The Dark Side of the Moon
by HermioneHotchner1
Summary: Severus Snape escaped from the Shrieking Shack unharmed, but what if he hadn't? Life takes an interesting turn, and hard lessons are learned. "The need for control always comes from someone that has lost it."
1. Aftermath

By Salazar and Merlin, he hurt!

His body was one big ache. He awoke to bright lights, disgusting scents, and sounds louder than the roar of a dragon right in his ears. It was too much to deal with all at once. All he could do was curl up and whimper and hope to Merlin that it ended soon.

From now on, at every full moon, he would be transformed into a monster, complete with bestial instincts, until the coming of the dawn.

He thought he felt a touch on his shoulder, but everything was so painful that he could only shy from it. There were voices and they sounded so very loud. He covered his ears but it didn't help at all. His head pounded.

There were hands upon him, pulling his hands from his face. He fought but then they pried his mouth open and he nearly choked on the liquid being poured down his throat. The _taste!_ It was just as overwhelming as the rest of it. He cried and struggled as another potion went down, then another. He lost count but it didn't matter. Soon enough, he fell into oblivion.

Severus didn't know how much time passed. He wavered in and out of consciousness. Each time, his senses screamed at him, but they dulled slowly off. It seemed like years had passed before he opened his eyes and managed to keep them that way.

The hospital wing was familiar, of course. One didn't have enemies like James Potter and Sirius Black without ending up there on a fairly regular basis. Severus slowly sat up and held his head as it began to ache again. The pain didn't burn like fire, but it was still annoying.

He was the only one there, thankfully. Severus wouldn't have been able to bear letting someone see him so weak, and it was weakness he felt permeating his entire body. His limbs felt heavy, leaden, and his head felt full of cotton, as did his mouth. He found a glass of water sitting at his side table and quickly grabbed it, only to have it drop from his weakened fingers. The glass clattered against the floor and Severus winced as the sound bothered his tender ears.

 _Damn it._

He shifted, shoving his weak legs over the side of the bed and moving to bend and grab the sodding glass. Just then, another sound caught his attention. He tilted his head, frowning a bit. His head swam with the movement. The door to the infirmary opened and Madam Pomfrey entered.

"Mister Snape!" she called and he flinched, hands going reflexively to his ears. Damn it, why was she so _loud?_ Madam Pomfrey rushed immediately to his side with a sympathetic look on her face. "Oh, you poor dear. Just a moment."

She hurriedly fetched a potion and he took it without even thinking. Within a few moments, his senses began to dull. Light and colour were starting to not seem quite so bright, sounds so loud, scents so strong... He could still smell the light touch of lilacs in her perfume, still hear her heartbeat slow and steady in her chest.

"Oh, child," Pomfrey murmured, brows drawing upward with sympathy. Severus frowned at that expression. "You don't deserve this." She sighed. "I've already sent for the Headmaster."

Severus just nodded, his stomach churning.

True to form, it wasn't long before the Headmaster appeared in the hospital wing… seemingly having come down to tell of how harmless the newly infected werewolf would be despite what Severus thought.

"I am dangerous," he stated sullenly.

"Nonsense, Mr Snape," answered the Headmaster, eyes twinkling behind the half-moon glasses. "If you stay inside-"

"Someone will get bitten!" he snapped. Headmaster Dumbledore could promise anything, but the fact that Severus had been bitten was undeniable. "You let that… werewolf into the school!" he spat.

"However, Mr Snape, you must recall that if you had remained inside-"

"He should be expelled. They should all be expelled."

The Headmaster let Severus finish his outburst. After it seemed that Severus was complete, the Headmaster stared at the young Slytherin thoughtfully. "If Mr Lupin is expelled for his unfortunate condition-"

"For being a murderer!" he interrupted angrily.

"Then you, because you are also afflicted, would have to be expelled as well."

This was a valid point. "It was dangerous to have that werewolf running around!" screamed Severus. Severus knew that he was being repetitive, but he could not understand the headmaster's permissive attitude. "It could have bitten anyone!"

Headmaster Dumbledore looked down benevolently, with just a bit of sharpness. "Severus, you must admit that would be only if people were running around after hours. If you had stayed in your dormitory, as you are supposed to, none of this would have transpired." The words were emphasized by a sad shake of the head.

Needless to say, it was a less than satisfactory answer.

Dumbledore summoned a clipboard with a form attached and a quill. He handed them to Severus, who immediately flinched. He had a fairly good idea of what they were.

"You will have to fill these forms to register with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," explained Dumbledore. "Fortunately, they have yet to check the Werewolf registry against the student lists. They have been looking for a rogue werewolf in the forbidden forest. Of course, they will never find them."

On the second day, Lily Evans, just out of Potions class with the splendid Professor Horace Slughorn, came by to visit Severus with the assignments.

She had immediately run over to him, calling his name, when he caught sight of him.

"Miss Evans!" the mediwitch scolded, aghast. "What did I tell you about over-stimulating my patient?"

"She's not over-stimulating me," Severus assured her, wringing his hands.

"No one will tell me what happened to you!" she exclaimed. "All Slughorn would say when I asked was that you were hurt when you went somewhere after curfew."

"Well, I'm not expelled," he grumbled.

"Aren't you going to tell me what happened?" she pressed. "From the way Potter and his mates are acting, I can easily gather who was involved."

Severus winched at the tone of her voice.

"Black wasn't even in classes this morning, and Remus-"

"Oh, he's Remus now, is he?" he sneered.

Lily huffed. "Honestly, Sev, he's a Prefect with me. He's not _nearly_ as abhorrent as his mates are. I don't know why he spends time with them."

Severus frowned at this.

"Anyways, he came down to breakfast all cut up," continued Lily.

"Not cut up," Severus corrected darkly, "bitten up."

"You're still on about that?" she said, sounding cold. "I know your theory. He's ill. They say…"

"Every month at the full moon?"

"He's not a Werewolf, Severus."

He buried his head in his pillow and held back a scream.

What was it going to take to get her to believe him? He'd already been bitten for Merlin's sake!

"Sev?" she said, concerned.

"What time is it?" he asked, trying to distract her.

"Lunch," she told him. His stomach took that as a cue to rumble, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since the night before.

"Can I get anything to eat?" he asked the mediwitch, irritably.

"If you're hungry, I could make you some cream of wheat," she told him briskly.

"I'm not ill," came his indignant reply. "I'm injured. I can eat real food."

She favoured him with an amused sidelong look. "I'm under the Headmaster's orders to treat you as a prisoner, Mr Snape, so your diet for the next few days is at my discretion."

He very badly wanted to tell her that prisoners had some rights to humane treatment including decent food, but he couldn't quite work up the nerve.

"So, _are_ you going to tell me what happened?" asked Lily.

His mouth opened, but the words wouldn't form. If he spoke, he would have to acknowledge what had happened. It would be real then, inescapable, permanent. He pushed it into the deep recesses of his mind where he didn't have to see it.

"No," he hissed, ripping the sheet out of her hands.

Lily relinquished it, wide-eyes.

"Sev…" she wheedled, a persuading smile eclipsing her face. A rush of heat poured into his face, and he wished for a moment that she would sit with him like this on a bed somewhere other than the hospital wing. He flushed. "Did…. Did you get into it with Black and Potter? Did they do this to you?"

He gritted his teeth.

"They did, didn't they?" she said, her smile disappearing. "They should be expelled!"

Severus heartily agreed, but couldn't say so.

"No," he snapped. "Leave it, Lily. Please."

"Yes, well, you're going to tell me sometime," said Lily. He folded his arms sulkily and pulled the sheet over his head in reply. "I'll give you some time if you need it, but please, Sev…"

"Fine!" Severus grumbled. He heaved a sigh of relief.


	2. Lady Luna

Feeling stronger, Severus was climbing up the walls. It would be a relief to be out of the hospital wing. The only good thing that was happening was Lily sitting at his bedside, keeping him up to date with all that was happening in the school. She prattled on about nothing particularly important, but just the sound of her voice was calming the anxiety he was feeling.

Black and Potter had both received detention for the remainder of the year and were off the Quidditch team for the rest as well. Severus wished they'd been expelled, but Dumbledore had said some drivel about the importance of pure lines, safe places, teenage folly. All rubbish, but it made the message clear. Dumbledore didn't give a damn what happened to him when it came to his precious Gryffindors. Honestly, Severus wasn't all that surprised, but it had hurt. Not that he'd admit it. _Ever._ But at least he had Lily.

He had finally told her about everything that had transpired down at the Shrieking Shack that night. She, thankfully, took his being a werewolf a lot better than he thought she was going to. He had to stifle a snicker when he heard about the row that she had had with the so-called Marauders.

Lily Evans was certainly one witch that you didn't want to get on the wrong side of, if at all avoidable. She had a rather nasty Bat-Boogy Hex. Severus, himself, had found himself on the other side of it on more than one occasion.

It stung a little when an official letter from the Ministry of Magic came.

At least it was being kept quiet. Dumbledore had ensured the registration was done under the table so to speak.

 _To the minor Werewolf, Severus Snape,_

 _[Case Num. 760165]_

 _We are writing to formally acknowledge your registry in accordance with the Werewolf Registry Act._

 _Please note the following next steps:_

 _Article B - Early Identification and Processing_

 _The Registry shall monitor the progress of victims no less than once per week during the first sixty (60) days following a bite._ _Should the victim survive the first two (2) transformations, the Support Services Office shall monitor the werewolf thereafter._

 _[Werewolves residing in populated areas must maintain a Registry-approved location to safely undergo the transformation. This location must be suitably secure as to prevent the werewolf causing harm to humans during the full moon. This location shall be inspected by the Werewolf Support Services Office caseworker assigned to the werewolf on each annual review or more often as deemed necessary by that caseworker.]_

 _Please note, while underage children reside in the home, family members or appointed guardians who observe the werewolf (werewolves) in violation of Ministry Regulations and fail to report such infractions to the department may be held equally accountable for any action taken by the werewolf._

 _Unless otherwise specified, all communication with the Registry and Support Services Offices may be conducted by registered owl (preferred), by personal appointment or visit, by private or postal owl, or by Floo powder._

 _Any werewolf found in violation of the regulations – see enclosed list - but not considered renegade, may be subject to fine or imprisonment, or other disciplinary action at the discretion of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement courts._

 _It is the responsibility of the werewolf to familiarise himself with all Regulations and to abide by them at all times._

 _Hoping you are well,_

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Corvus Warbeck_

 _Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures_

 _Beast Division_

 _Ministry of Magic_

Beyond frustrated, he flipped through the following pages governing the Werewolf Code of Conduct. They had rules about nearly every aspect of someone's lives.

Not bothering to read completely to the end, he threw the letter down in a fit of rage. Black had damn near ruined his life. He wanted nothing more than to go rant and rave at Lupin, regardless of what Dumbledore said about Lupin's not having been aware of Black's prank.

It didn't matter if he was in on it or not. This was obviously all his fault.

He was happy when he was finally released.

He was even happier when it was obvious that nobody was aware of his condition and he was able to go to his classes normally. Apparently, they had just assumed he had been hexed badly after a prank gone wrong.

Professor McGonagall's response seemed to be to triple her vigilance in class and to crack down on discipline within Gryffindor as hard as she could. She was quick to punish even mild misbehaviour, hoping to send a clear message that real trouble would have dire consequences.

She had even visited him in the hospital wing.

"Mr Snape."

"Professor?" he inquired, pulling himself out of his musings, and turning to face her.

"It seems as though I owe you an apology - both personally and on behalf of my House," said Professor McGonagall. "A prank of this nature should never have occurred. It speaks to extremely poor judgement and respect on the part of Mr Black, and a lack of vigilance on the part of the professors."

Severus blinked, and a brief, subtle, startled expression crossed his face.

"You have my word that Mr Black will be under close scrutiny from now on," she said. "Something of this nature will not happen again. If it does those boys will be punished severely."

Severus still regarded her with a serious, wary, expression, and as if on impulse, she quickly hastened to continue her speech.

"Mr Snape, if you have any further difficulties this year, of any sort, related to them or not, I'm available," she said. "My office hours are posted on the door to my office, however, if I am not teaching, I am regularly in."

That gained her a much plainer look of surprise.

He wasn't likely to take her up on the offer, but he appreciated the sentiment nonetheless. If anything, it gave him an emergency escape.

For once, he was actually thankful for all those trips to the hospital wing over the years. It was rather convenient, now that he needed it for a cover.

How long would he be able to keep it quiet though?

Werewolfry, it turned out, was a ghastlier business than even he had thought. Three days before the full moon, Severus began to feel antsier and his muscles were starting to ache.

At least he wasn't allergic to silver. He had no idea what he'd do if he couldn't continue with potions. That was one thought he didn't even want to consider.

And what would happen on the full moon? That was what scared Severus the most. Neither of his parents had come to see him. Dumbledore had informed them of his condition, and his mother had briefly written, once, but other than that… He hadn't been surprised about his father, but he'd held out some hope for his mother. Foolishly, it would seem.

By the full moon, Severus was vibrating with nervous energy. Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore got him in a coat and guided him and Lupin out to the Whomping Willow, into the Shrieking Shack.

"Now, now, boys," Dumbledore said, trying to be the voice of reason. "Tonight may be rather..."

Severus glared at him when he trailed off and looked at him. After a few moments, Dumbledore regained his composure and resumed.

"Let's attempt a truce, at least for tonight," the old man murmured.

"No offence, sir," he sneered, "but that's not bloody likely."

Lupin looked taken back, Severus noted, pleased.

"Mr Lupin, if you would follow Madam Pomfrey to the next room?" said Dumbledore, deciding to ignore Severus's comment. "She'll be performing a number of charms to keep you contained in that area."

Lupin silently followed the Medi-witch, after giving Severus one last look. It was apologetic, sheepish, and Severus's lip curled in response. Good. This was all Lupin's fault anyway.

Dumbledore began setting up the charms and wards as he talked about nothing. Severus ignored him, simply sitting in a corner, up against a scratched wall. His heart was beating too quickly and his body shook with energy and weakness simultaneously. His senses were going wild. Every new sound demanded his attention.

Finally, Dumbledore was gone, and Severus moved to take off his robes and place them in the battered wardrobe. The door was squeaky, and it didn't help that his hands were trembling as he took off his tie. He had no sooner wrapped a tattered blanket around him when the pain hit.

Severus whimpered as his body shook. He thought he may have heard the Headmaster's voice, but then a surge of burning heat raced through him and he could only sob in response. He jerked and shook, moaning as he lay on the floor. It hurt, it hurt so much.

Suddenly it stopped. Severus lifted his head. He slowly got up. He felt strong, powerful, invincible... and angry.

One ear twitched as he caught a sound. Scratching, whimpering. A sniff and he caught the scent. There, another of his kind. His lips curled back as he began to growl, low and deep in his throat. The scratching sounds paused as the other, wolf figured out he was there as well. Then a low growl. Severus made his way slowly through the unfamiliar house, shying instinctively away from the raucous planks. And then a barrier, situated against a rattling door. He gave a snarl of irritation and ran into it, hearing the other do the same on the other side.

It couldn't last for long. Soon enough, he gave up. The smaller wolf making his way back to the room from which he came. Unable to get to the other wolf, he bit and scratched and tore. He felt tufts of fur pulled out, blood spilling, but none of it mattered right now.

Before long he trudged off to another room, scratching at wood here or there or breaking it.

At last, Severus could feel his body reaching its end. Eventually, the small wolf relaxed a bit licked his wounds before falling into a deep sleep.

Finally, morning came. He was curled in on himself. His body was sore and achy and his head pounded. Groggily, he opened his eyes.

Glancing down at himself, there were marks... everywhere. Bites, scratches, bruises. Some of it had already healed to thin red lines.

Not having the energy to get to the wardrobe, Severus wrapped himself in the tattered blanket a few feet away. He just wanted to sleep.

Suddenly Lupin walked in. One look at the boy told him that Lupin, although doing better than him, was still in fairly rough condition. He was rather pale.

"How do you feel?" he said.

"How do you think?" Severus barely managed to hiss. "What's it to you, anyway?"

Lupin frowned and looked slightly hurt.

"I'm trying to be civil, Snape."

"That's your problem, not mine," said Severus. "Leave me alone."

"Fine," Lupin sighed, making his way over to the wardrobe.

After a moment, Lupin tossed his clothes over to him. He caught them, and quickly put them on without a thought.

"Thanks," he grumbled, rather grudgingly.

A long moment later they heard the sound of adults entering the tunnel.


	3. Cauldrons Roasting

Severus was first to wake up in his dormitory. It had been several days since the full moon, and he was now recovered and had resumed whatever passed for his normal life if you could call it that.

Patches of bright blue sky were beginning to appear over the castle turrets, but these signs of approaching summer did not do much to lift his mood. He was irritated as ever with the looks of guilt and pity he was getting from Lupin on a regular basis. At first, he was enjoying it, but now he just wanted it to stop. It was really beginning to wear thin.

He lay for a moment, staring through the gap in his four-poster's hangings, and savoured the thought that it was Saturday. The last week seemed to have dragged on forever, like one gigantic History of Magic lesson à la Binns.

He pulled open the curtains around his bed, got up and started to dress. The only sound apart from the distant twittering of birds was the slow, deep breathing of his fellow Slytherins. He opened his schoolbag carefully and pulled out a book.

It was a copy of _Magick Moste Evile_. He had found it when browsing the Restricted Section of the library, and the book was reasonably interesting.

It was rather fortunate that he didn't need notes from a professor anymore. He had been right through most of the restricted section at this point. Although, Slughorn always was daft and he had rarely had trouble getting a note for – assumed – _academic_ purposes.

He had a small twinge of guilt in the pit of his gut as he knew what Lily would say about his reading these type of books, but quickly pushed it aside. It wasn't like he was hurting anyone. He just found some of the more advanced magic fascinating was all. He wasn't hurting anyone. Not really. With that thought, he stuffed the book under his arm and headed out of the dormitory for the common room.

Making straight for one of the squashy old armchairs near the fireplace, Severus settled himself down comfortably. He looked around the room. Nobody else was up. Even the detritus of crumpled-up bits of parchment, old Gobstones, empty ingredient jars and sweet wrappers that usually covered the common room at the end of each day was gone. Revelling in the peace, he opened his book.

He wasn't alone for long though. He had just gotten to a particularly fascinating bit on creating jinxes when others started trickling in. Everyone was slowly starting to wake up and make their way down to breakfast.

"Morning, Snape!" came Regulus' voice.

"Hello," he replied, looking up from his book, and turning to the younger Slytherin.

"You're lucky Slughorn hasn't walked in," Regulus chided.

"Oh, come on now, Black," said Mulciber, making his way over. "You know all Snape would have to do was appeal to his eternal love for potions, and Slughorn would be putty in his hands."

Avery, not far behind Mulciber, let out a soft chuckle. Severus smirked, before rolling his eyes.

"Hardly," he said. "The only reason why I ended up in his little Slug Club – there was a note of disdain – is because of my potions skills and being Evans's partner in class. If I couldn't brew potions he wouldn't waste five seconds of his time on me. Not that he does anyone, mind."

"True," conceded Mulciber. "Still, you're one of his favourite students in the class. Has he ever given you a remotely crappy detention? Although, I don't understand why you're partners with that mudblood. Honestly, get some pride, mate."

"He has a point," said Avery.

"Hardly," he sneered. "And for your information, ancestry aside, she still has her uses. She's skilled at potions, and doesn't prove a hindrance - unlike most of the dunderheads in that class."

The potions part was true. He and Lily had always been a good pair. Lily was fairly skilled at potions herself, and whenever Severus deviated from the textbook's instructions (which was often) she never got annoyed or confused. She'd just immediately go with it, and try and figure out, fairly intuitively, what exactly it was that Severus was doing; why he had made the changed he did.

As for the rest of it, he didn't honestly think that of her, at all. He had been best friends with Lily for years, well before Hogwarts. They grew up a few blocks from each other and met at the local park when they were nine. He could still remember the day he told her she was a witch clearly.

She was uncommonly kind, and an exceptional witch to boot, but he found out quickly she had a fiery temper. She had thought him insulter her, but they met up later and instantly connected over both having magic. She was one of his first friends. He didn't know what he'd do without her. That being said, he wasn't about to get sentimental around this particular group of people. They gave him a hard enough time about being friends with Lily as was.

It didn't escape his notice that none of them had bothered to visit him in the hospital wing either. Lily had, but this group of so-called friends couldn't have been bothered.

"Point proven," leered Mulciber, pulling Severus from his musings.

"Whatever," he said, gesturing vaguely. "Are we going down to breakfast or not?"

"Lead the way," Regulus retorted with an eye-roll.

After breakfast was History of Magic. History of Magic was by common consent the most boring subject ever devised by wizardkind. Professor Binns, their ghost teacher, had a wheezy, droning voice that was almost guaranteed to cause severe drowsiness within ten minutes, five in warm weather. He never varied the form of their lessons, but lectured them without pausing while the students took notes, or rather, gazed sleepily into space. Lily and himself were one of the few people that seemed able to resist the soporific power of Binns's voice.

Along with taking notes, however, a lot of time was spent whispering and passing notes. Anything to stay awake, and it wasn't as though Binns paid all that much attention to anything.

Yesterday, they had suffered an hour and a half's droning on the subject of giant wars. In another teacher's hands this subject might have been mildly interesting, but not in Binns' monotone voice. Nonetheless, he took notes, while Lily shot Mary and Alice a filthy look out of the corner of her eye. They had completely disengaged and had been playing Hangman on a corner of one of their pieces of parchment.

"Do they intend to pass their O.W.L.s?" he said with a look of disdain.

"They'll be fine," she grumbled. "Although, I can guarantee they'll be asking for my notes."

"Stebbins and Avery will likely do the same," he said, the annoyance clear in his voice. "I might just refuse to give them my notes this year."

"Well, they'd deserve it," she snapped. "They don't even try to listen to him."

"Preaching to the choir, Lily." He raised an eyebrow.

Finally, the bell rang signalling the end of class. Having one of their rare free periods, Lily and Severus made their way to the library, where they spent the next hour sorting through books, researching information for the three-foot essay that Binns had assigned them.

By the end of it, their table was covered in different tomes, scattered every which way.

"That's the bell."

"Thank for stating the obvious, Sev!" And with a flourish of Lily's wand, all the books went back into place. Both students then quickly made their way down to the dungeons for Double Potions. It wasn't long before they joined the queue lining up outside Slughorn's classroom door.

A moment later the dungeon door creaked open, revealing Slughorn's great walrus moustache curved above his beaming mouth. He filed into the classroom and took his usual table at the back, where he sat down beside Lily and ignored the huffy, irritable noises now issuing from Avery, Bulstrode and Pucey.

"All right then, let's get started," said Professor Slughorn, moving towards the front of the classroom. "Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: The Draught of Peace. It's a potion used to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: if you are too rough with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a deep and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing."

He sat up a little straighter, his expression one of utmost attention.

"If brewed correctly, the potion will emit a silvery vapour," said Slughorn, "but the possible characteristics of a failed batch seem to be endless (everything from green sparks, dark grey steam, a sulphurous odour, a cement-like consistency, to a dangerous instability that will cause it to explode and set one's robes alight)."

Severus' attention wandered from the lecture; he already knew most of it at any rate. Potter and Black had caught his attention, snickering. A few moments later a note fluttered onto his desk. Flipping it open cautiously, Severus saw a line of James Potter's small scrawl.

 _Is that your nose, or are you eating a banana, Snivellus?_

Severus crumpled up the paper with one hand and turned to glare at the pair of them, who just smirked back. Gritting his teeth in annoyance, he turned back to Professor Slughorn, who was finishing up his lecture.

"The ingredients and method—" Slughorn flicked his wand "-are on the blackboard" -(they appeared there) – "you will find everything you need" — he flicked his wand again – "in the store cupboard" - (the door of the said cupboard sprang open) "-you have an hour and a half... start."

It was immediately noticeable that Slughorn could hardly have set them a more difficult, fiddly potion. The ingredients had to be added to the cauldron in precisely the right order and quantities; the mixture had to be stirred exactly the right number of times, firstly in clockwise, then in anti-clockwise directions; the heat of the flames on which it was simmering had to be lowered to exactly the right level for a specific number of minutes before the final ingredient was added.

"We should let it simmer now," said Severus, glancing at the potion.

"Good idea," agreed Lily.

As it was simmering they watched it change, gaining a purple hue.

"What was that note about, anyway?" asked Lily. "The one from Potter, I mean."

"The usual antics," he said with a snort.

"Hmmm."

Severus sighed and pushed the piece of parchment towards her. She read it, eyebrows moving up her forehead.

She mumbled something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, "jealous toerag."

"He's an arrogant wanker," Severus said with a snort.

"Lovely image, Sev!" Lily said with an eye roll.

"Just as pretty as toerag," he quipped.

"Rather apt, more like."

"Oh, I agree, Lils."

"You should have a light silver vapour coming from your potion now," Slughorn said when there were ten minutes left to go.

Severus, who was sweating profusely, looked bemused around the dungeon. His own cauldron was issuing a light silver vapour; Marlene McKinnon's was issuing copious amounts of dark grey steam. Potter was feverishly prodding the flames at the base of his cauldron with the tip of his wand, as they seemed to be going out. The surface of Lily's potion, however, was a shimmering mist of silver vapour, and as Slughorn swept by he looked down at both Lily's and his he was beaming.

"You both have delivered yet again," said Slughorn. "Twenty points apiece to Gryffindor and Slytherin."

"Thank you, sir," said Lily. Severus just gave a curt nod, lips curling upwards into a wry smile.

Just then the bell rang, signalling the end of class.

"Now, I want everyone to fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name and bring it up to my desk for testing," said Slughorn. "Now, for homework: a twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday."

A groan could be heard from Potter and Black, but Slughorn ignored it.

Within minutes everyone marched up to Slughorn's desk with filled and corked flagons.

A moment later there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders. Severus and Lily quickly joined the rush of students heading for lunch.

"I can't figure out what I did wrong," sighed Marlene McKinnon, outside of the Great Hall. "Even Alice's potion was better than mine."

"Do you honestly want to know, McKinnon?" he inquired, somewhat coldly.

"I would like to pass the class, yes," she grumbled.

"The Hellebore," he said. "I can guarantee after you let it simmer for seven minutes you moved on to the fourth step instead of finishing the third. You evidently missed that part of the instructions."

"Be nice, Severus," Lily chided gently.

Severus just rolled his eyes.

"Yours was still better than Davis," said Lily consolingly. "When he put it in his flagon the whole thing shattered and set his robes on fire."

"Well Davis is a hazard to himself and others," sneered Severus. "I'll be happy not to have him in N.E.W.T level next year."

Lily seemed like she wanted to argue, but couldn't refute his point. Davis had melted a ridiculous number of cauldrons by this point.

"Well, we should probably go to lunch," said Lily. "See you in Defence I guess, Sev."

"See you later," he said, making his way over to the Slytherin table.

"What kept you?" asked Avery.

"Discussing Davis' new levels of incompetence," he deadpanned.

"Yeah, I saw Stebbins taking him to the Hospital Wing," said William Sayre, a note of amusement in his voice.

"Wouldn't be the first time," said Severus, helping himself to some shepherd's pie.


	4. Of Butterbeer and Mice

As they moved into June, the majority of Severus and Lily's time together was spent in the library. Exams were approaching and they were therefore forced to revise for hours into the night.

This lent itself to them spending a lot of time down by the lake, together, at lunch-time. Today had been a particularly happy hour in Severus' opinion; until they were bothered that is.

He and Lily had been talking about everything under the sun, having just finished their Herbology homework - they were now on Fanged Geranium – when they were interrupted.

This grated on Severus's nerves more than it should of, but he and Lily had been growing apart these last few years, and were actually reconnecting.

"Snape! Oi, Snape!"

Severus instantly turned to face the voice.

"Yes, Black?" he drawled, looking the younger boy in the face. Regulus Black had learned quickly to hold his tongue around Severus, and as such, the two got along reasonably well.

Black was now hurrying toward him holding a roll of parchment.

"For you," said Regulus. "Any idea what he wants?"

"Does anyone? Ever?" he said with a sneer.

The younger boy just rolled his eyes.

"True enough. Mulciber's looking for you as well," said Regulus. "Just thought you should know. He said he'd be –"

But Severus was not listening; he had just recognized the thin, slanting writing on the parchment. Leaving Black in mid-sentence, he hurried away with Lily, unrolling the parchment as he went.

 _Dear Severus,_

 _I would like to meet with you as there are some details that need refining. Kindly come along to my office at eight p.m. I hope you're not too busy with exams approaching. Summer shall be upon us soon._

 _Yours sincerely,_  
Albus Dumbledore  
P.S. I enjoy Licorice Snaps

"He enjoys Licorice Snaps?" said Lily, who had read the message over his shoulder and was looking perplexed.

"I rather think it is the password to get past the gargoyle outside his study," said Severus in a low voice. "I really don't like the sound of this."

"How come?" inquired Lily.

"Notice that comment about the summer?"

"Yes," said Lily. "What does that -?"

"The conversation is going to be about my summer arrangements due to my condition," he said, hating how small he sounded when he said that. "That's why he wants to have this little tête-à-tête."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, does it?" said Lily.

"I don't know," Severus sighed. "I honestly have no clue what to think. My parents –" At this Severus's voice trailed off.

"Maybe things will work out, Sev," said Lily encouragingly. "Just go and see what he has to say tonight."

"All right," he said, a note of resignation in his voice.

After lunch, he went off to Ancient Runes while Lily went to Arithmancy. They had a rare free period and went to the library where they started on their homework. The essay for Ancient Runes turned out to be so complex that Severus still had not finished when the bell rang for the afternoon's transfiguration lesson and they beat the familiar path, through the corridors, to McGonagall's classroom.

"So what are your plans for the summer, Lily?" Potter inquired.

"Potter, why don't you find someone else to pester?" Severus sneered. "I assure you, your presence here is unwanted."

"I'm not talking to you, Snivellus," Potter replied. "Lily?"

"Hanging out with Severus and my family likely," said Lily, rather pointedly. "Not that it particularly concerns you."

"Evans –"

"Shut it, James!" said Lily. "For the record, if you ever wanted me to give you a chance, tormenting my best friend wasn't the way to go about it."

"Oh, come on, Evans," said Potter. "You won't even give me a chance. I tried to help the git!"

"You were saving your own neck," Severus said, venom in his voice.

"I was not! I –"

It was then that Professor McGonagall appeared, opened the door.

"Is there a problem here?" McGonagall demanded.

"No Ma'am," they all said quickly.

"Good," she said. "Come in."

Everyone followed her through the doors and took her their seats.

"Very well then," she said. "Mr Bones, kindly come here and hand back the homework - Miss Moon, please take this box of mice - don't be silly, girl, they won't hurt you - and hand one to each student—"

That comment did not seem to reassure the girl at all, but Professor McGonagall just ignored her. It wasn't long before Edgar Bones handed back Severus' essay; He took it quickly and saw, to his chagrin, that he had only managed an 'E'.

"What did you get?" he asked under his breath.

She tilted her essay towards him, revealing an 'O'.

"Great," Severus grumbled, before getting a look from McGonagall.

Lily just smirked.

"You cannot pass an O.W.L," said Professor McGonagall grimly, "without serious application, practice and revision. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an O.W.L in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work – and yes, that includes you, Pettigrew."

At this there were some snickers coming from the Slytherins.

It would take a miracle for Pettigrew to get into N.E.W.T levels.

"Now, most of – Sirius Black, if you do that to the mouse again I shall put you in detention – As I was saying, most of you have now successfully Vanished your snails and even those who were left with a certain amount of shell have got the gist of the spell," McGonagall said. "Today, we shall be practicing the altogether more difficult Vanishment of mice. Now, the Vanishing Spell becomes more difficult with the complexity of the animal to be Vanished. The snail, as an invertebrate, does not present much of a challenge; the mouse, as a mammal, offers a much greater one. This is not, therefore, magic you can accomplish with your mind on your dinner. So - you know the incantation, let me see what you can do…"

"This should be interesting."

The Vanish Spells were one of the more difficult spells that would come up on their OWLs. By the end of the last double period, most had not managed to vanish the snails on which they were practicing, though Mulciber said hopefully he thought his looked a bit paler. Lily and him, on the other hand, had successfully vanished their snails after a handful of attempts.

This earned them both 10 points a piece from Professor McGonagall. They were also the only two who were not given homework; everybody else was told to practice the spell overnight.

As they were practicing Professor McGonagall paced around the room observing and correcting wand movements.

Severus was having a little harder time than Lily had at vanishing the mice.

It took several attempts, but eventually Lily got it. She then had corrected Severus, and they had both managed to vanish their mice.

"Excellent work, Mister Snape," McGonagall said, congratulating him. "Ten points to Slytherin."

"Thank you, Ma'am," he said. Lily was greeted similarly.

As she walked around the room, Severus quickly scribbled a not to Lily that read: _Ten sickles says Pettigrew doesn't vanish his rat._

He slid it over to Lily. She read it, scribbled an answer, then looking to see if McGonagall was watching, slid it back towards Severus.

She'd written: _Childish, Sev! I'm in! I bet he only does a partial vanishment._ He smiled and wrote: _You're on. Looser buys the winner butterbeer._

He gave the note to Lily, who read it, and rolled her eyes. Smiling, she stuck in inside her textbook.

"Good attempt, Miss LeClair, but I do believe we are trying to vanish the mice," McGonagall said. She frowned at Pettigrew and Mulciber's attempts, and praised Mary, and Moon who had both done reasonably well.

By the end of class, a handful of people had managed to vanish their mice. They had also been assigned two feet of parchment on Vanishing Spells.

"I win," he said with a smirk. She giggled.

He stayed back a few minutes to wait for his dormmates.

"Well, it's a start," grumbled Mulciber, holding up a long wriggling mouse-tail and dropping it back into the box Lupin was passing around.

"Still doing better than Pettigrew," Avery said, his voice laced with disdain. "Has he even managed to vanish a toe?"

"Not bloody likely," he scoffed. "But that's not even a start, Mulciber. It's honestly pathetic."

Mulciber just scowled.

They were among the first to reach the Great Hall at dinnertime, as Severus didn't want to be late for his meeting later.

"Are you coming to the tea at Malfoy Manor come the holidays?" inquired Mulciber, in between bites of his steak-and-kidney pudding.

"The one they throw every year?" inquired Severus. "That depends."

"On?" inquired Avery.

Severus said nothing.

"You should," said Mulciber. "He's said to expect a _very_ important guest."

Oh, Severus knew all right. He also knew how pertinent the meeting would likely be.

"I've been informed as such," said Severus, taking a sip of Pumpkin Juice. "I could hardly miss the opportunity."

"Good," Mulciber smirked. "Hopefully you're not sick."

"I'm feeling fine," he said, keeping the nervousness out of his voice.

"You've been sick a lot lately," said Avery.

"It's just stress, and frankly Gryffindor dunderheads are bad for your health," said Severus.

"True enough," Evan Rosier said with a snort. "Why do you let them walk all over you?"

"They'll get their own," he said. "Believe me."

Severus went up to the library after dinner and tried to do the homework Professor McGonagall had given them, but Severus kept breaking off and glancing towards the door.

"Sev, talk to me," Lily said.

"It's fine, Lily."

"You're distracted, Sev."

"Lets just get back to work." He sighed.

Nothing changed, however, and eventually Lily closed his book.

"Oi!"

She glanced at her watch.

"It's a quarter to eight," said Lily. "It's still a tad early, but I doubt Dumbledore would mind."

"Fine!" Grumbling, he started throwing his books in his bag.

"Good luck!" Lily called, watching Severus leave.

Severus proceeded through the mostly deserted corridors he reached the spot in the seventh-floor corridor where a single gargoyle stood against the wall.

"Licorice Snaps." The gargoyle instantly leapt aside; the wall behind it slid apart, and a moving spiral stone staircase was revealed, onto which Severus stepped, so that he was carried in smooth circles up to the door with the brass knocker that led to Dumbledore's Office.

Severus knocked.

"Come in," said Dumbledore's voice.

"Good evening, sir," he said, walking into the Headmaster's office.

"Ah, good evening, Mister Snape. Sit down," said Dumbledore, smiling. "How is preparing for exams going?"

"I am sure you can imagine, sir."

"Indeed," said Dumbledore. "Although, if I may say so, I have very little doubt you'll do well."

"Thanks, sir," said Severus, rather awkwardly.

"So, Severus," said Dumbledore, in a businesslike voice. "You have been wondering, I am sure, why I called you here?"

"I find myself curious, yes," he agreed. "Although, sir, you implied certain things in your message."

"That I did," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

Just then there was a knock at the door.


	5. Of Lions and Snakes

Severus gasped.

Standing in the doorway were two women he instantly recognised. The first had had dark hair, heavy brows and a long, pallid face. She always had been thin, hunched, sour-faced and sallow.

The other had a much more pleasant disposition. She had blonde wavy hair, pale blue almond-shaped eyes, and nearly twice the usual amount of neck.

"Mother. Mrs Evans."

"Severus," the elder Snape said.

"Hello, Severus, Dear," said Mrs Evans.

"What are you lot doing here?" he asked, feeling a bit thrown off track. He had absolutely no idea what was going on right now. It was rare for a muggle parent to be in Hogwarts, except for special occasions, and Lily didn't seem to know her mother was coming. Well… she hadn't mentioned it at least.

"They're here because I asked them to come," Dumbledore said, pulling Severus from his musings. "As you know, you've found yourself in a rather interesting situation."

"That's one way to put it," he scoffed.

"Yes, well, I do believe I will let these two ladies do the honours," said Dumbledore. "They'll be able to answer any questions more thoroughly for you than I'd find myself able."

"I see…" said Severus, feeling even more confused, but turning towards the two women.

His mother didn't hesitate to start the conversation. She always had been rather blunt, Tobias being the only exception to the rule.

"I do apologise for not coming sooner, but there were some decisions that needed to be made," his mother said. "In any case, a few weeks ago I approached Violet here, asking for her help. Given the circumstances, it would be best if you weren't staying at home. Your father he… you know how he gets."

Severus did at that. His father didn't like anything much, and magic was at the top of the list. He could only imagine how his father reacted to the news.

"That being said, you have a history with the Evans family, and given the apprehension of your condition, and how things are going in our world..." she paused. "Violet and Henry have agreed to take guardianship over you until you come of age."

"What?!" said Severus, feeling even more shocked. He had known something like these was coming from her previous comments, but this was still surprising, to say the least. The Evans' didn't mind him much, or so he thought, but he didn't expect this. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"We wanted to be sure the application would go through, before bringing it up," his mother said. "We didn't want any impediments or for anyone involved to get their hopes up."

Severus couldn't argue with that logic. Unfortunately, it made quite a bit of sense.

"We have room to spare, so it's really no hassle, and the proper arrangements can be made for nights of the full moon," Mrs Evans chimed in. "I'm given to understand that although mostly harmless, people with your condition tend to have a rough time of it due to prejudices, and your mother was concerned about how you'd be treated if you fell into Ministry Custody."

"Essentially, yes," his mother said.

"I don't – I have no idea what to say," said Severus.

"You don't have to say anything, just promise me you'll give it a chance," Mrs Evans replied.

"You might find that changes can be a very good thing, Severus," said the Headmaster. "I implore you to make the most of this opportunity. Remember, it is our choices."

Severus gave a curt nod.

It was a half an hour later when Severus found himself talking to Lily, who was already wearing a dressing gown and standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. They had just found themselves saying goodbye to his mum and Mrs Evans.

"I know I said things would work out, but I wasn't expecting that," said Lily, with a small smile. "I'm certainly not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, mind you."

"Nah, deaf it!" His lips turned upwards.

"Just don't slummock about in bed all day," she teased.

"Well, don't go round the wrekin' then!" he said in jest.

"Doylem," Lily said, crossing her arms. Only the twinkle in her eyes betrayed her amusement.

"Oi!" he said, playfully punching her in the arm.

"Touch a sore spot?" she grinned.

He just rolled his eyes.

It wasn't much longer before they bade each other good night, and Lily turned and climbed back through the portrait hole and to her dorm.

The rest of the month seemed to pass in a blur. The castle grounds were gleaming in the sunlight as though freshly painted; the cloudless sky smiled at itself in the smoothly sparkling lake; the satin green lawns rippled occasionally in a gentle breeze. To the fifth-years, this meant only one thing: their OWLs were upon them at last.

Their teachers were no longer setting them homework; lessons were devoted to revising those topics the teachers thought most likely to come up in the exams. The purposeful, heated atmosphere drove nearly everything but the O.W.L.s from Severus' mind, though the full moon was once again approaching. Unfortunately, there was a full moon right in the middle of exams. This frustrated Severus to no end; he was quite busy and tense enough without extra stress; Lily, especially, spent a lot of time in the library muttering to herself and keeping her head in a book. Not that Severus was much better.

She was not the only person acting oddly as the OWLs drew steadily nearer. Marlene McKinnon and Mary MacDonald had joined them for revision several times now. That was fine, but Remus Lupin had developed an irritating habit of interrogating people about their revision practices.

"How many hours d'you think you're doing a day?" he asked of Lily and Severus as they queued outside Herbology, a manic gleam in his eyes.

"A fair few," said Severus.

He still wasn't fond of the other bloke, but they'd come to an understanding of sorts. Frankly, Severus found it hard to be upset with the boy when he was the only one who had any idea of what Severus was going through.

It had taken a while, but Lupin had eventually told Severus his side of the story, and Severus had to admit, begrudgingly, that the other wolf was a victim of the prank as well.

"More or less than six?" Lupin asked.

"I'm doing eight," said Lily. "Eight or nine. I'm getting an hour in before breakfast every day. Eights my average. I can do ten on a good weekend day. I did nine and a half on Monday. Not so good on Tuesday – only seven and a quarter. Then on Wednesday—"

"I'm not far off either," Severus said. "Half the time we're studying together."

"I've only been doing six," Lupin grumbled.

Severus was deeply thankful that Professor Sprout ushered them into greenhouse three at that point, forcing Lupin to abandon his tirade as he rushed over to partner with Pettigrew. Black and Potter right beside them. It seemed that the group had made up.

Meanwhile, a flourishing black-market trade in aids to concentration, mental agility and wakefulness had sprung up among the fifth and seventh-years. Lily and Severus had tried to quell it but ended up giving up. Pettigrew and Black were much tempted by the bottle of Baruffio's Brain Elixir offered to them by Ravenclaw sixth-year Damon Carmichael, who swore it was solely responsible for the nine 'Outstanding' OWLs he had gained the previous summer and was offering a whole pint for a mere twelve Galleons. Before they could close the deal, however, Severus and Lily had confiscated the bottle from Carmichael and Lily poured the contents onto the grass.

"Oi, Evans we wanted that!" Black shouted.

"Don't be stupid," she snarled. "You might as well take Prewett's powdered dragon claw and have done with it."

"Prewett's got powdered dragon claw?" said Black eagerly.

"Not anymore," Severus said, lips quirking upwards. "I confiscated that, too. None of these things actually work, you know."

"Dragon claw does work!" said Black, apparently deciding to put his animosity aside for a second. It was rather Slytherin actually, but than again Black's family had largely been in the House of Snakes. "It's supposed to be incredible, really gives your brain a boost. You come over all cunning for a few hours - it can't possibly hurt."

"Yeah, Snape!" said Pettigrew, obviously just agreeing with whatever Black said.

"Want to bet?" said Severus.

"Come on, Sniv – Snape," he said. "I bet nobody even knows you've confiscated it yet. What harm can it do?"

"You'd be surprised," said Severus grimly. "I've had a look at it, and it's actually dried Doxy droppings."

"You're serious?" Pettigrew asked nervously.

"Very."

"Oh," said Black, looking a little sick.

This information clearly took the edge off the marauder's desire for brain stimulants.

They received their examination timetables and details of the procedure for O.W.L.s during their next Transfiguration lesson.

"As you can see," Professor McGonagall told the class as they copied down the dates and times of their exams from the blackboard, "your O.W.L.s are spread over two successive weeks. You will sit the theory papers in the mornings and the practice in the afternoons. Your practical Astronomy examination will, of course, take place at night."

She gave them a moment for that to sink in.

"Now, I must warn you that the most stringent anti-cheating charms have been applied to your examination papers," said McGonagall. "Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs and Self-Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbour at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules. This is folly."

"Please, Professor," said Lily, her hand in the air, "when will we find out our results?"

"An owl will be sent to you sometime in July," said Professor McGonagall.

"Excellent," said Matt Cartwright in an audible whisper, "so we don't have to worry about it till the holidays."

Severus just rolled his eyes.

Their first examination, Theory of Charms, was scheduled for Monday morning. Severus agreed to test Lily after lunch on Sunday, but regretted it almost at once; she was very agitated and kept snatching the book back from him to check that she had got the answer completely right, finally hitting him hard on the nose with the sharp edge of _Chadwick's Charms_.

"I think you need a break," he said firmly, handing the book back to her, his eyes watering.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"No use crying over split potion, I suppose," Severus replied. "Come on. Let's go."

None of the fifth-years talked very much at breakfast next day, either: Parkinson was practising incantations under his breath while the salt cellar in front of him twitched; Accrington was rereading _Chadwick's Charms_ so fast that her eyes appeared blurred; Belby also kept dropping his knife and fork and knocking over the marmalade.

Once breakfast was over, the fifth- and seventh-years milled around in the Entrance Hall while the other students went off to lessons; then, at half past nine, they were called forwards class by class to re-enter the Great Hall, which had been rearranged. The four house tables had been removed and replaced instead with many tables for one, all facing the staff-table end of the Hall where Professor McGonagall stood facing them. When they were all seated and quiet, she said, "You may begin," and turned over an enormous hour-glass on the desk beside her, on which there were also spare quills, ink bottles and rolls of parchment.

Severus turned over his paper, his heart thumping hard-three rows to his right and four seats ahead Lily was already scribbling-and lowered his eyes to the first question:

 _a) Give the incantation and_ _b) describe the wand movement required to make objects fly._

This was easy, too easy. Smiling slightly, he bent over the paper and began to write.

"Well, it wasn't too bad, was it?" asked Lily, rather keenly, in the Entrance Hall two hours later, still clutching the exam paper. "I'm not sure I did myself justice on Cheering Charms, I just ran out of time. Did you put in the counter-charm for hiccoughs? I wasn't sure whether I ought to, it felt like too much - and on question fifteen—"

"The counter-charm for hiccoughs? Yes," said Severus. "Look at that first question though – You learn that in first-year."

"I know," said Lily grinning. "Hopefully the others aren't too terrible."

The fifth-years ate lunch with the rest of the school (the four house tables had reappeared for the lunch hour), then they trooped off into the small chamber beside the Great Hall, where they were to wait until called for their practical examination. As small groups of students were called forwards in alphabetical order, those left behind muttered incantations and practised wand movements, occasionally poking each other in the back or eye by mistake.

Lily's name was called.

"You'll be fine," said Severus. "Remember, you got a hundred and ten per cent on one of our Charms tests."

She gave a weak nod, and, still trembling slightly, left the chamber with Elliot Edgecombe, Michael Edwards, Anthony Everard, and James Ellwood. Students who had already been tested did not return afterwards, so Severus had no idea how Lily had done.

"If anyone shouldn't be worried about that exam, it's Lily," said Marlene. "She's to Charms what you are to potions."

"You try telling her that and getting her to listen," Severus snorted. "You do realise who you're talking about?"

"True enough," Marlene smirked.

A half-hour later, Professor Flitwick called, "Scrimgeour, Tate — Smith, Alden — Spinnet, Alexander — Snape, Severus."

"Good luck!" said Mulciber, who then went to practically shove Severus towards the door. Severus walked into the Great Hall, clutching his wand so tightly his hand shook.

"Professor Twycross is free, Snape," squeaked Professor Flitwick, who was standing just inside the door. He pointed Severus towards what looked like the very oldest and baldest examiner who was sitting behind a small table, in a far corner, a short distance from Professor Marchbanks, who was halfway through testing Prewett.

"Snape, is it?" said Professor Twycross, consulting his notes and peering over his pince-nez at Severus as he approached.

"Yes, sir," said Severus quickly.

"Good. Right then," he said in his quivery old voice, "iff I could ask you to take this egg cup and make it do some cartwheels for me."

On the whole, Severus thought it went rather well. His Levitation Charm was right on point, though he wished he had practised growth charms a little more. The spell had run off on him a tad, and the rat ended up being the size of a badger. That was hardly going to cost him any marks though, so he wasn't worried.

There was no time to relax that night; they went straight to the library after dinner and submerged themselves in revision for Transfiguration next day; Severus went to bed with his head buzzing with complex spell models and theories.

He could have done better on his definition of a Switching Spell during his written paper next morning but thought his practical could have been a lot worse. At least he managed to Vanish the whole of his iguana, whereas poor Talia Moon lost her head completely at the next table and somehow managed to multiply her ferret into a small gaggle of geese, causing the examination to be halted for ten minutes; while the birds were captured and carried out of the Hall.

They had their Herbology exam on Wednesday (other than a small bite from a Fanged Geranium, Severus felt he had done reasonably well); and then, on Thursday, Defence Against the Dark Arts. This was without a doubt one of his better subjects.

He had no problem with any of the written questions and took particular pleasure, during the practical examination, in performing all the counter-jinxes and defensive spells.

In fact, the examiner was delighted when he performed a perfect Boggart Repelling Charm.

His hand was flying across the parchment; he had written at least a foot more than his closest neighbours, and yet his writing was minuscule and cramped.

"Five more minutes!"

At this Severus hastily moved to finish his last question, and check over his answers. Nothing stood out, and he felt quite satisfied with what he had written.

"Quills down, please!" squeaked Professor Flitwick. "That means you too, Stebbins! Please remain seated while I collect your parchment! _Accio!"_

Everyone's parchments soared to Professor Flitwick's outstretched arms, knocking him off of his feet. Several people laughed, but I ignored the scene, bored. All I wanted was to find a place to sit and review the examination paper. A couple of over-helpful students near the front got up, took hold of Professor Flitwick beneath the elbows, and lifted him onto his feet again.

"Thank you ... thank you," panted Professor Flitwick. "Very well, everybody, you're free to go!"

Severus picked up his bag, sticking his quill into it, and swinging it onto his shoulder. Making his way through the tables, towards the doors to the Entrance Hall, he picked up the examination paper and began to look over it. He immediately dismissed question one, it had been easy…

A gang of chattering girls separated him from Potter, Black and Lupin, not that Severus noticed. The group of Marauders were happily chatting away, discussing the exam.

"Did you like question ten, Moony?" asked Black as they emerged into the Entrance Hall.

"Loved it," said Lupin briskly. "Give five signs that identify the werewolf. Excellent question."

"D'you think you managed to get all the signs?" said Potter in tones of mock concern.

"Think I did," said Lupin seriously, as they joined the crowd thronging around the front doors eager to get out into the sunlit grounds. "One: he's sitting on my chair. Two: he's wearing my clothes. Three: his name's Remus Lupin."

Wormtail was the only one who didn't laugh.

"I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes and the tufted tail," he said anxiously, "but I couldn't think what else—"

"How thick are you, Wormtail?" said Potter impatiently. "Your best friend _is_ one!"

Severus remained close by, still buried in his exam questions. Unbeknownst to him, when Potter and his three friends strode off down the lawn towards the lake, Severus unwittingly followed, still poring over the exam paper and apparently with no fixed idea of where he was going. Question nine had been somewhat difficult….

Moving to towards the edge of the lake, he settled himself on the grass in the dense shadow of a clump of bushes, where he would be less likely to be noticed, and where he could go over the exam paper in peace. It didn't take that much longer; most of the questions he had had no problem with…

While he was as deeply immersed in the OWL paper as ever, the Marauders were gathered under a nearby tree. The sunlight was dazzling on the smooth surface of the lake, on the bank of which the group of laughing girls who had just left the Great Hall were sitting, with their shoes and socks off, cooling their feet in the water.

He got up, stowing the O.W.L. paper in his bag, thinking vaguely that he might go up to the library and work on Transfiguration. He set off back up towards the castle.

As he left the shadows of the bushes and set off across the grass, just out of sight, Potter and Black stood up.

"All right, Snivellus?" asked a loud, arrogant voice.

Severus whipped around, dropping his bag and plunging his hand into the pocket of his robes for his wand. Potter was always hexing him, and he was going to hex him into an oblivious jelly. It was halfway into the air when Potter shouted, " _Expelliarmus_!"

His wand shot out of his hand, landing with a little thud in the grass behind him. Black let out a bark of laughter.

Burning with anger, Severus dove his wand.

 _"Impedimenta_!" Black said, knocking Severus off his feet.

Students all around had turned to watch. Some of them had got to their feet and were edging nearer. Some looked apprehensive, others entertained.

He lay panting on the ground. Potter and Black advanced on him, wands raised, Potter glancing over his shoulder at the girls at the water's edge as he went. Wormtail was on his feet now, watching hungrily, edging around Lupin to get a clearer view.

"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" Potter asked.

"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," said Black viciously. "There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."

Several people watching laughed; he wasn't exactly popular. Wormtail sniggered shrilly. He was trying to get up, but the jinx was still operating on him; he was struggling, as though bound by invisible ropes.

"You-wait," he panted, staring up at Potter with an expression of purest loathing, "you- wait!"

"Wait for what?" said Black coolly. "What're you going to do Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"

Now he was really brassed off. He let loose a stream of mixed swear words and hexes, but nothing happened. His wand lay ten feet away, totally useless.

"Wash out your mouth," said Potter coldly. " _Scourgify!_ "

Soapsuds formed in the back of his mouth. They overflowed within seconds, leaving him unable to breathe, with the pink soap bubbled streaming for his mouth. He began to gag.

"Leave him ALONE!"

Severus looked up from where I was kneeling. One of the girls who had been cooling her feet in the water of the lake was striding up to Potter and Black, looking furious. It was Lily.

Just great he didn't want her coming to his rescue like some damsel in distress.

"All right, Evans?" Potter asked. His tone of voice was suddenly deeper, pleasanter, and more mature; the filthy, puffed-up show-off.

"Leave him alone," Lily repeated. She was looking at James Potter with every sign of great dislike. "What's he done to you?"

"Well," said Potter, appearing to deliberate the point, "it's more the fact that he exists if you know what I mean…"

Many of the surrounding students laughed, Sirius and Wormtail included, but Lupin, still apparently intent on his book, didn't, and nor did Lily. She looked furious.

"You think you're funny," she said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."

"I will if you go out with me, Evans," said Potter quickly. He was such a loser, with his obvious crush on her. Would he ever get the message? She didn't like him! "Go on… Go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," Lily snarled.

Severus could feel the Impediment Jinx wearing off. Slowly, he began to inch towards his fallen wand, spitting out soapsuds as he went. If he could just reach his wand…

"Bad luck, Prongs," Black said to Potter. "OI!"

He had reached his wand and pointed it straight at Potter. Thinking quickly, with his point pointed at Potter, he cast a nonverbal Sectumsempra. No one had seen that one before… A gash appeared on Potter's cheek, spattering his robes with blood.

His satisfaction was short-lived, however. He whirled, and Severus was upside down in the air, his robes over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of greying underpants.

Many people in the small crowd cheered; Black, Potter, Pettigrew roared with laughter Potter was using one of Severus' own jinxes on him… He was livid now… He was going to hurt Potter so badly that he would never be able to ride a broomstick again…

"Let him down!" said Lily.

"Certainly," said Potter and he jerked his wand upwards; Severus fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. Disentangling himself from his robes he got quickly to his feet, wand up, but Black said, " _Petrificus Totalus_!" and Severus keeled over again, rigid as a board.

'LEAVE HIM ALONE!' Lily shouted.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said Potter earnestly. I could only assume that she had taken out her wand, as I had no control to look up.

"Take the curse off him, then!" she demanded.

Potter sighed deeply, then turned to Severus and muttered the counter-curse.

"There you go," Potter said, as Severus struggled to his feet. "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus—"

Severus saw red.

"I don't need help from -!" hissed Severus, before pausing. Lily caught him out of the corner of his eye. She was one of the few people who had been there for him throughout this entire mess.

Lily blinked, not sure where Severus was taking this.

"You think you're so bloody amusing, Potter, divvent you?" he spat, his northern accent becoming more noticeable. He was generally very careful with his diction, but he just didn't care right now. He felt so ruddy humiliated. "You're nothin' but a ruddy coward!"

"Take that back!" said Potter.

"You never attack me unless it's four on one," he hissed. "What would you call that, I wonder?"

Apparently, he wasn't the only one, because Lily was giving Potter down the banks.

"Messin' up yer hair because you think it looks cool te look like you've just got off yer broomstick, showin' off with that sackless Snitch, walkin' down corridors and hexin' anyone who annoys you just 'cause you can. I'm surprised yer broomstick can get off the ground with yer fat head on it. And have you not done enough damage this year?" she yelled. "You make me SICK!"

Grabbing Severus' hand, she turned on her heel and hurried away.

"Come on, Sev!" said Lily, quietly. "Let's go."

He just gave a curt nod, not trusting himself to speak.

"Evans!" Potter shouted after her, "OI, EVANS!"

But she didn't look back.


	6. OWLs

Unfortunately, Severus found himself facing another transformation right before exams. He was still feeling rather exhausted, come Friday when he had his next exam. Lupin didn't seem to be doing much better when Severus saw him making his way to Muggle Studies.

Most of Severus' dormmates had the day off, while Severus sat his Ancient Runes exam, and as they had the whole weekend in front of them they permitted themselves a break from revision. They stretched and yawned beside the open window, through which warm summer air was wafting as they played wizard chess and the like.

He was beyond glad that he didn't have to contend with the Marauders right now. They had been given an in-school suspension for the rest of term, where they were confined to their common rooms, except for exams, and their detentions.

Lily had dragged him up to Professor McGonagall's office right after the trousers incident. He had rarely seen her as angry as she was then.

Finally, the exam was over, and Severus walked back into the common room.

"How was Runes?" asked Regulus, yawning and stretching.

"I am positive I mistranslated Sowilo!" he said furiously. "It means success, not defence. I mixed it up with Eihwaz."

"You say that like it's the end of the world," said Stebbins.

He just glared at the other boy.

"You have met, Snape, right Stebbins?" inquired Mulciber, rolling his eyes.

"You're a giant book nerd, Severus," said Avery.

"I happen to like doing well," he snapped. "And it could be the one mistake that makes the difference between a pass and a fail."

"Like I said..." said Avery. "Anyway, guess what? Someone put a Niffler in the caretaker's office. I don't know how they got it through that door, but I just walked past there and he's been shrieking his head off.

"Good," sneered Mulciber. "I hope it bites the ruddy squib."

Nobody liked Mister Pringle. No one.

His bad mood persisted for most of the weekend, though Lily managed to ignore it and coax him into spending most of Saturday and Sunday revising for Potions on Monday, the exam which Severus had been looking forward to the most. He wasn't remotely nervous. Sure enough, he found the written paper essay and had little doubt he got full marks on the question about Polyjuice Potion.

The afternoon practical was certainly not boring but was difficult enough to just pose a slight challenge. It wasn't that the potion itself was difficult, just that it was very finicky. When Professor Twycross said, "Step away from your cauldrons, please, the examination is over," Severus corked his sample flask feeling more confident than he had all week.

"Only four exams left," said Avery wearily as they headed back to Slytherin common room.

"Three for me. At least Ancient Runes is over," he stated. "That had to be the toughest one there is."

Lily, of course, would have disagreed, and when asked would maintain that Arithmancy was the worst. They just agreed to disagree at this point.

Severus was glad when Care of Magical Creatures was done. It wasn't that the class was hard, but Severus has just never exactly had a way with animals. He had been bitten more than anyone else in that class.

The practical examination took place in the afternoon on the lawn on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where students were required to correctly identify the Knarl hidden among a dozen hedgehogs (the trick was to offer them all milk in turn: Knarls, highly suspicious creatures whose quills had many magical properties, generally went berserk at what they saw as an attempt to poison them); then demonstrate correct handling of a Bowtruckle; feed and clean out a Fire Crab without sustaining serious burns; and choose, from a wide selection of food, the diet they would give a sick unicorn.

He was just glad that he didn't get burned this time.

The Astronomy theory paper on Wednesday morning went well. Severus was sure he had got at least most of the names of all Jupiter's moons right. They had to wait until evening for their practical Astronomy.

That after was Lily's Arithmancy exam.

"How did Arithmancy go?" he asked, not sure if she was about to yell at him for some perceived mistake on her exam. She had been beyond stressed about the Arithmancy exam recently.

"Well, I think I've done all right in Arithmancy," she said, and Severus sighed with relief. "Just time for a quick look over our star-charts before dinner, then…"

"Fine by me," he agreed.

When they reached the top of the Astronomy Tower at eleven o'clock, they found a perfect night for stargazing, cloudless and still. The grounds were bathed in silvery moonlight and there was a slight chill in the air. Each of them set up his or her telescope and, when Professor Twycross gave the word, proceeded to fill in the blank star-chart they had been given.

Professors Twycross and Tofty strolled among them, watching as they entered the precise positions of the stars and planets they were observing. All was quiet except for the rustle of parchment, the occasional creak of a telescope as it was adjusted on its stand, and the scribbling of many quills. Half an hour passed, then an hour; the little squares of reflected gold light flickering on the: ground below started to vanish as lights in the castle windows were extinguished.

As Severus completed the constellation Aries on his chart, however, the front doors of the castle opened directly below the parapet where he was standing, so that light spilt down the stone steps a little way across the lawn. Severus glanced down as he made a slight adjustment to the position of his telescope and saw five or six elongated shadows moving over the brightly lit grass before the doors swung shut and the lawn became a sea of darkness once more.

He put his eye back to his telescope and refocused it, now examining Venus.

"Five minutes to go," said Professor Tofty.

Quickly, he moved to fill in the last two places on his chart. Handing his chart in, he threw his telescopes haphazardly back into their holders and made his way back down the spiral staircase.

Their final exam, History of Magic, was not to take place until the following afternoon. Severus had woken up rather early for a spot of last-minute revision, so he could be found, sitting with his head in his hands, by the common room window, trying hard not to doze off as he read through some of his three-and-a-half-feet-high stack of notes.

The fifth-years entered the Great Hall at two o'clock and took their places in front of their face-down examination papers.

"Turn over your papers," said Professor Twycross from the front of the Hall, flicking over the giant hour-glass. "You may begin."

The first few questions were easy. The first one took no time at all. He wrote a rather long answer to question five. (In your opinion, did wand legislation contribute to, or lead to better control of, goblin riots of the eighteenth century?). Question ten was a bit more difficult, but he was sure he had got most of the important points. (How was the Statute of Secrecy breached in 1749 and what measures were introduced to prevent a recurrence?).

"Thirty minutes left!" called Professor Tofty.

Question twenty took him some more time, as it was at the tip of his tongue as it were. He kept feeling like he was forgetting some important point. (Describe the circumstances that led to the formation of the International Confederation of Wizards and explain why the warlocks of Liechtenstein refused to join.)

I know this, Severus thought, though his brain felt torpid and slack. He could visualise the heading in his notes: The formation of the International Confederation of Wizards ... he had that only this morning.

He began to write, looking up now and again to check the large hour-glass on the desk beside Professor Twycross. He was sitting right behind Aquila Black whose shoulder-length, dark, hair fell below the back of her chair. Once or twice he found himself staring at the tiny golden lights that glistened in it when she moved her head slightly and had to give his own head a little shake to clear it.

"The first Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards was Pierre Bonaccord, but his appointment was contested by the wizarding community of Liechtenstein, because—"

Severus ran his hand through his hair, before rereading the question.

All around Severus quills were scratching on parchment, like scurrying, burrowing rats. The sun was very hot on the back of his head. What was it that Bonaccord had done to offend the wizards of Liechtenstein? He knew it had something to do with trolls…

Suddenly a light bulb went off, and with a smile, Severus began to quickly scribble down the rest of his answer. Bonaccord had wanted to stop troll-hunting and give the trolls rights ... but Liechtenstein was having problems with a tribe of particularly vicious mountain trolls ... that was it. All this had taken place after the Confederation's first meeting in France, which the Goblins had tried to attend. The goblins were blocked from attendance, however.

He had done several paragraphs on that question, before stepping back to read through what he'd written so far. Happy with it, he moved on to the next question.

Severus ended up having to skip a couple questions and go back to them later but managed to eventually work through them. He was just finishing up his last answer when McGonagall called the last five minutes.

He quickly put his quill down and went back to reread his answer. He quickly scribbled another two lines and with a smile flipped his exam back over.

"Quills down!" called Professor McGonagall, who then summoned all of the exam papers. "You may go."

Glad his last exam was done, Severus through his quills into his bag and threw it over his shoulder.

"How did you do?"

"A couple of the questions were challenging," said Lily. "I think I did well enough, though. You?"

He nodded.

"I got briefly stuck on twenty, but I think I did well enough," he said.

"The one about the Confederation?" Lily asked. "Yeah, that took me a minute as well."

"We really need a more interesting History of Magic teacher," he scoffed. "It's hard to stay awake in his class, let alone pay attention to everything he says."

"Well, he's dedicated," said Lily.

"As I've said many a time before," said Severus, _"too_ dedicated."

The rest of the final term passed in a haze of blazing sunshine. They were just waiting for their exam results which would come during the summer.

Exams being finished, everyone wanted to relax, and Severus was invited to hang out with Lily's friends by the lake. She had tried a lot over the years to get them to get along. Nothing ever came of it.

That being said, he decided to take her up on the offer. They had been growing apart the last few years, and although that had been changing recently, he wanted to actually make an effort.

His patience with Mulciber and Avery was wearing thin. Stebbins as well. They were supposedly his friends but not a single one of them visited him when he was in the hospital wing or seemed to care. Normally the comments about him being bookish wouldn't bother him, but the little things were all started to get on his nerves. They could at least make an attempt at seeming like they cared, and didn't just tolerate him because he was useful when it came to homework.

No, Lily had been the one in the hospital wing. Lily had been the one wondering how he was doing. Lily was the one who knew what he was going through. She was the one he didn't have to hide his background from. One of the few he didn't have to hide what was going on every month from.

He was sick to death of being pushed around by those in his house, of walking on eggshells and hoping that they didn't figure out what he was. He knew. He just knew that he'd be persona non grata if they ever found out about his condition. Lupin might have found an accepting group, but the Slytherins were mostly the snobbish elite. There was almost zero chance of them being anything remotely close to accepting of his condition if discovered.

"You have no idea how glad I am that exams are done," said Frank Longbottom.

"You're not the only one," said McKinnon. "I hated this year's exams."

"Last year, when I had my O.W.L.s, half of my class had nervous breakdowns," said Longbottom. "Just be happy you don't have N.E.W.T.s next year like I do."

"You win," groaned McKinnon.

"Don't remind me of N.E.W.T.s already," said Lily, also groaning.

"What are you planning to do after school?" Severus inquired. "You _are_ going into your seventh year."

"I want to go into the Auror Department," said Longbottom. "They're rather selective though."

"They can go years without a new recruit," said Severus.

Longbottom just nodded.

"They're those dark wizard catchers, right?" asked Mary. "They're like police officers?"

"Essentially," said Lily. "Although, I believe they're slightly more involved than that? Severus?"

"That'd be right," said Severus. "They also take some of the roles of muggle military personnel."

"Hmmm."

They then spent the next quarter of an hour joking and laughing by the lake. The most memorable moment having to be when a Hufflepuff second-year screamed at the sight of the Giant Squid, who had poked its head out of the water.

"Isn't that the girl who lost her Puffskein on the train?" asked Mary.

"I think so," said Marlene McKinnon, bemused. "I sincerely hope she doesn't take Care of Magical Creatures."

"Oh, lay off," said Lily, rolling her eyes. "She's twelve."

"I'd still pay to see her try and deal with a Knarl or Fire Crab," said McKinnon.

"Flobberworms," said Severus. "Those are definitely right up her alley."

"Truer words never were spoken," said McKinnon, chuckling.

"You two are horrible!" said Lily, feigning exasperation.

Both he and McKinnon looked at each other before Severus, smirking, spoke.

"I hope you're not just realizing that now," he drawled. "You've known us both for how long?"

"Hardly," Lily quipped.

"Sure," said McKinnon, with a teasing lilt in her voice.

Lily's only response was to roll her eyes.

Before long it was time for the end-of-year feast. The Great Hall was decked out in the Slytherin colours of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the house cup for the seventh year in a row. A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table.

"Another year has gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully, your heads are all a little fuller than they were... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts..."

"Can it be our seventh year already?" grumbled Mulciber.

"Oh, get over yourself!" Severus said, rolling his eyes.

"Now, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Gryffindor with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table.

"Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore.

Dumbledore raised his hand, and the room gradually fell silent.

"Now I would like to say a few words before we all become too befuddled by our excellent feast," started Dumbledore. "It is my belief – and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken – that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you, in this Hall, I speak directly to you. Every day every hour, this very minute perhaps, dark forces try to penetrate this castle's walls, but in the end, their greatest weapon is you."

He then paused to let it sink in.

"Furthermore, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided," said Dumbledore. "Friends change... friendships change. Real friends move with these changes and talk about them as they are happening. Just something to think about."

At this, Dumbledore waved his hand and wandlessly put out the candle.

"But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light," finished Dumbledore, stealing a glance in Severus's direction.

At the last word, Dumbledore once again waved his hand back over the candle, wandlessly reigniting it. Then, all of a sudden, the dishes were all filled to the brim with food.

There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, bacon, steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and for a reason Severus could never understand, mint humbugs.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the puddings appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs, jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, rice pudding…

"What does that barmy old codger think we have to be afraid of?" said Barty Crouch Jr.

"He's just concerned for those students whose beliefs don't fall in line," said Elicia Lestrange, pouring a glace of gilly water. "Moreover, Barty, you know full well that he's always been well… mad."

"Oh, there's no doubt about that," said Evan Rosier. "The cauldron's on but nobody's home."

Severus just rolled his eyes.'

"You're all dunderheads if after all this time you think he would for one second agree with this," said Severus. "Why are you all acting surprised? Have you forgotten what his name means in our world? He's practically royalty. They wanted him for Minister of Magic _and_ he defeated Grindelwald."

"What's got your wand in a knot?" inquired Rosier.

"Nothing," said Severus, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

"Ignore him, Evan," said Mulciber. "He's been like this a lot lately. I think he's just arguing to argue."

Avery snickered, and Severus just glared at the lot.

He had just finished his plate when he saw Lily waving from the Gryffindor table.

Irritated with his housemates, Severus dismissed himself and left them to their celebrating. He decided to go and see what Lily wanted.

"Congratulations, Sev!" greeted Lily.

"Thanks, I guess."

"You don't look too pleased," she said, frowning.

"They're just being a bunch of dunderheads and I have zero patience right now," he said. "If one of them could grow a brain it would be rather refreshing."

"So business as usual?" offered Lily.

"Pretty much." The corners of his mouth moving upwards.

"Come sit with us," said Lily, and Severus did, as invited, although slightly begrudgingly.

Severus catching the Head Table out of the corner of his eye could have sworn that at this Dumbledore smiled. Severus had a sneaking suspicion that the Headmaster's speech that night was made with Severus himself in mind.

While He, Lily, McKinnon, MacDonald, Longbottom and Alice Fortescue were chatting away, and everyone was joking, Severus saw a look of shock on the Marauders faces. Lupin pulled them to the side, although Severus could not make out what was being said.

The rest of the night continued as much of the same for Severus, and he found to his surprise that he actually liked talking to Frank Longbottom, and of course, there was Lily.

All in all, it wasn't the most dreadful evening that Severus could have had.

Eventually the evening came to an end, and suddenly their wardrobes were empty, trunks were packed, notes were handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays (Severus personally always hoped that they would forget to give him one), and they walked down to the platform, loading the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the country side became greener and tidier; eating Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans as they sped past muggle towns; pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross Station.

It took quite a while for them all to get off the platform as they had, as usual, a wizened old guard up by the ticket barrier letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.

Mr and Mrs Evans were waiting for them on the other side of the barrier. As to be expected, Petunia had decided, once again, not to make the trip. It took precious time out of her social life.

"Mum, dad," cheered Lily, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hello, Mr and Mrs Evans."

"Hello Severus, Lily flower," greeted Mrs Evans. "And please, it's Violet. You're living with us now. Formality gets so old."

"And me – Henry. Did you have a good term?" probed Mr Evans.

"For the most part," said Lily beaming, and hugging her parents. "Glad exams are over though."

"I am sure," said Mr Evans laughing.

"How was school, for you, Severus?" Mrs Evans asked.

"It was all right," said Severus. "My housemates are as infuriating as ever."

"Because you've always been such a people person," stated Mr Evans with a teasing lilt in his voice.

"Obviously."

"Petunia's at a friend's engagement party right now or she'd be here," said Mrs Evans.

Lily didn't say anything. Just nodded.

"Ready to head home?" asked Mr Evans.

Lily glanced at Severus.

"Quite."

"Then lead the way," said Mr Evans, directing them towards the parked car.

Finally, they had stowed away their school trunks, hopped in the car, and left London for the almost three-hour drive back home to their little town of Cokeworth.

Everyone was joking and listening to music the entire drive, and Severus could honestly say that he was looking forward to this summer.

Lily and him, together, had shot off and described their year and impending O.W.L results as best as they could to Muggles; Lily having compared them to the GCSE exams.

"I'm sure you both did really well," said Mrs Evans.

"Well we both know one exam Severus doesn't have to worry about!" said Lily, grinning. "I think he knows potions better than our own potions professor."

"Potions isn't that hard, Lily. He quirked an eyebrow.

She really was just as good as him. Why she was making a fuss about him doing well... it felt weird.

"It can be," said Lily. "You have a gift, Sev. Half the time it looks like your throwing things into a cauldron for no rhyme or reason. It almost always turns out flawless."

He could feel all the colour rushing to his cheeks.


	7. History and Now

Severus lay on the sofa in the lounge, flipping discontentedly through Hal Evans' volume of _The_ _H_ istory _of the Decline and Fall of_ _the Roman Empire._ He had been living with the Evans' for little over a week now and found it quite a welcome change. From upstairs came the sounds of slamming doors and rushing footsteps. He gave a sigh and threw the book on the table beside him.

Petunia wasn't exactly pleased right now. Thankfully, he hadn't been in the room when the elder Evans' daughter had been told he was now living at the Evans' house. Of course, it had hardly mattered since he had heard the commotion quite clearly downstairs. He was relatively certain that Petunia's screeching could be heard across town, if not the country. Since then she had swung between ignoring his existence completely and annoying him to within an inch of his life.

It didn't take long before Mrs. Evans walked in. "What are you reading, Severus?"

"Pardon?" he said, glancing in Violet's direction.

"The book," she said, gesturing towards it.

"Oh, it's _The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."_

"Which edition?"

"Bury."

"And how far have you gotten?"

"I have twenty pages left in volume one."

"You're doing better than I did," said Violet. "I think I managed about three pages before I was so bored I gave up. That's much more Hal's thing."

"It is pretty dry but I made it a goal to at least finish the volume," he said.

"Well, I know Hal will be happy to finally have someone to talk to about it," Violet said.

Just then, Mr Evans walked in.

"What am I missing?"

Severus pointed out the volume that was lying beside him.

"That book's one of the driest I've ever read."

"No, I think that award goes to The Return of the Native," Hal responded.

"The main character was a heath; how can you get any more boring?" Severus deadpanned.

"I can't argue you there," Hal said, chuckling. "It sounds like things are calming down upstairs finally."

"And not too soon," said Violet.

The next few days flew by and sooner then he would have thought it possible. Severus knew Lily was downstairs watching the telly so didn't bother to pause as he rapidly went through his summer assignments. He was so intent on what he was doing he didn't hear the footsteps come up the stairs nor notice Lily standing in his doorway until she rapped lightly on the wooden frame. Still in the middle of an idea, he continued to scribble away until the thought was safely committed to the margins of the book and then looked up.

He was surprised to see that Lily looked anxious but it was nothing compared to what he felt when he heard what it was she had to say. "Your mother's downstairs."

"My mum's – here?"

"Yes."

He hastily capped his ink and wrapped the quill in a scrap of cloth. He quickly started out of the door and down the hall.

It didn't take him long before he was downstairs and entered the lounge.

Eileen Snape was sitting in one of the wing chairs. It took him only seconds to take in the fact that his mother was wearing her cream suit with navy trimming. It was the very ensemble she had been married in and to this day remained the best outfit that she owned. Clearly, his mother was expecting to do more than just speak with him since Severus couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his mother so posh-ed up.

This was given weight by the fact that the Evans' were currently chatting away with her. He finally spoke up, as the older Evanses made their way out of the lounge, giving them some privacy.

"Mum?"

"Severus." She turned to see her son.

There were several moments of silence before Eileen spoke again. "How have you been doing?"

"I've been well, thanks," he said. "I like it here."

"Good. Your father – well…" Eileen's voice was brittle as she spoke.

From the tone of her voice, Severus knew things were bad between his parents. Countless memories swarmed up in his mind. Memories of being huddled in corners and behind the faded sofa seeing things he would rather have never seen.

Severus looked long and hard at his mother, trying to ascertain if she was hurt in any way. "Mum, are you ok?"

"Of course."

"You're sure?" he said, not believing it.

"Yes." Her answer was curt. Just as his had always been whenever Lily would ask him what was wrong after a particularly bad night in his parents' house. "But enough about me. What do you do here all day?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Read, watch some telly. Sometimes Lily and I play cards or a board game. Go to the park. And we do other stuff like cooking and washing up."

"What about your school work?" she asked.

"I'm mostly done with that," he said, rolling his eyes.

She gave a curt nod.

"I am sorry about your father, Severus," his mother said. "If things were –"

This time Severus couldn't quite repress the memories.

"If yee want te do summat fre me then leave him."

His name was a whisper when it came out. Severus heaved himself out of the sofa, hobbled to his mother's side and grabbed her hand. "Please, Mum, divorce him."

"No one in our family has ever…" she started.

"Who cares? They don't have to live with him, do they?" Eileen said nothing, only stared up into her son's eyes, and he couldn't hold back the question another moment. "Why have you stayed all these years?"

Unexpectedly, after several sighs, she answered. "I thought it would be best for you."

He wanted to laugh at the idiocy of his mother's statement, but managed to contain any outward show of emotion as she continued, "I know things haven't always been easy but I wasn't trained to be anything other than a housewife."

"You went to school."

"I was never anywhere near as keen as you," his mother said matter-of-factly. "Truth be told, the Gobstones club was more important to me than any lessons were. I was so certain I would meet a nice pure-blood man and spend the rest of my life raising our children, throwing parties and extravagant dinners, like my mother. To me, my schooling was just a thing I had to get through, a nuisance really."

"Look how that worked out," he snorted.

"I didn't plan to be married to anyone like your father," she continued, just as if she hadn't been interrupted. "When I saw him that night at the pub I was – swept away, I suppose. He was a very handsome, charismatic man then. After that, everything happened so fast. And things weren't bad in the beginning…"

"Until I summoned a football from our neighbour's yard when I was five," Severus deadpanned, looking straight at his mother.

"You remember…?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "Do you know how many times I've replayed that day in my head? One day, he's great. Things weren't perfect, but they were good. The next minute, I'm this thing that he can't stand to be near. I thought… give him a few days. Daddy'll come around. The arse never did come around, did he?"

"You have to understand… it all went from bad to worse," his mother admitted. "Maybe if – but – I had no money, nothing. So, what could I do, Severus? Leaving you behind wasn't an option. If I took you… At least this way you didn't have to live on the street or go to an orphanage. Believe me, if I had thought he would harm-"

"He beat me, Mother. At least do me the courtesy of calling it by its proper name. And I would have rather lived on the street then have him do that or watch him hit you or…"

"Severus – "

"Nothing you'll say will change the facts, Mother," he hissed. "You need to leave him. You should have stood up for me. You shouldn't have lied to him for years."

He wouldn't have normally dared to say these things, but he couldn't be bothered to regret it right now.

"We'll discuss this later," she said.

He knew it was pointless to try and debate the idea with her anymore. With a nod, he acquiesced

"I should probably get going," Eileen Snape said, a note of resignation in her voice.

"Can't you stay a little longer?" he asked.

"I need to be home by the time your father gets back and I still have to go to the market so…"

"You'll come back, won't you?"

"I'll try but I can't promise anything." She stated as she made her way out of the lounge.

"Goodbye, Mum."

"Goodbye, Severus." With that she walked out the door, closing it firmly behind her.

How long he stood there staring at the closed door he didn't know.

"Sev?"

"Yes?" he said softly, turning around. Lily was standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Are you all right?" Lily asked. "I had to repeat your name a few times."

He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words. It felt like there was a lump in his throat.

"Sev?" she said, even more concerned.

That was the last straw. Severus crumbled, and fell to the ground, sobbing.


	8. Friends or Foes

A couple weeks had passed since Severus' breakdown. The Evanses had been great about it, even Petunia hadn't had the heart to give him a hard time over it.

Mr Evans had taken Severus aside, and worked with him in the shop for a few hours, to keep his mind off things. He found that he didn't mind the physical work much, and was quite decent with the tools. He had also talked with Severus about various things.

Both Lily and Mrs Evans had made it their sworn duty to cheer Severus up, and so were constantly messing around to get him to laugh. Mrs Evans even made Severus' favourite dishes for supper that night.

Since then they hadn't stopped. They did everything they could to keep him busy and distracted. This leant to him spending a lot of time in the back shop with Hal Evans on the weekend, something that he had come to look forward to.

Unfortunately, with the passing weeks, that meant that the full moon was approaching. This didn't do anything to help Severus' mood even the slightest.

Dumbledore had come by a few days earlier in order to set up a small room in the basement. It would be completely soundproof, and Severus would be unable to escape.

The next few days passed in a blur, and after supper, Severus helped everyone clean up. The tension was palatable. There was nothing said between them; instead, Severus went to his room and opened a book. Desperately trying to take his mind off things. Just before moonrise, Violet led Severus to the basement. He stepped inside and sat down on the bed along the right side, looking back to the still open doorway. Violet stared back at him, pale and ghostly in the dark half-light.

"Does it hurt?" she asked softly. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Yes." There was no point in lying to her.

"Every time?"

"Every time."

She looked as if she were contemplating something. He couldn't fathom what. Finally, after a long silence, he felt the itching under his skin.

"Lock the door," he told her. She stared at him a moment longer before doing so. He heard her quiet voice activate the specialised wards. He then quickly disrobed, stashing his clothing as high up as he could manage.

The change began. He writhed and cried as his body ripped and shifted and became something alien to him. And when it was over, he spent the night howling, and biting and clawing at himself. He was alone, and he took it out upon his own body, because there was nothing else to tear apart.

Violet Evans was there in the morning. Hal Evans was off at the university and everyone else was asleep. Violet gasped as she opened the door, but said nothing else. She helped her bruised, bleeding foster son off the small cot, tugging one his arms over her shoulders, and then hauled him slowly back upstairs to his bedroom.

She finally got him to his room and laid him down before she began to clean some of the worse wounds. Severus could barely stay conscious. He was so tired; absolutely drained from the night. Once she'd finished, Violet gave him several of Madam Pomfrey's potions to drink and he fell asleep as she pulled the blankets over him.

Everyone avoided disturbing him through the rest of the day. He slept long and hard and when he woke, he was still tired and achy. Severus dressed and went out. It was almost dark again outside. He still felt the itch of the moon under his skin, as he always did the day after, but it seemed stronger. Strange.

Supper was waiting when he got to the kitchen. Hal looked up and stared at Severus, green eyes flickering over the bandages his t-shirt didn't hide. He said nothing, however, merely motioned Severus to his seat.

"How are you feeling, Sev?" Lily asked.

"You seem to be doing much better?" Violet asked, more of a question.

"Yes," he said, giving Violet a small smile. "Thanks for everything, Violet."

"Of course, dear," said Violet, returning the smile.

"I'm glad you're doing better, Severus," said Hal. "Are you feeling up to eating?"

"Starved."

Both Hal and Violet laughed.

"You're in luck," said Hal. "Vi, here, has made enough to feed twenty."

Violet just rolled her eyes.

Violet then gestured for Severus to began serving himself, since everyone else already had.

Supper had started tense, but it didn't take long before things seemed to go back to normal; the usual jokes and banter being tossed around. Dinner finished in silence, as usual. Severus went to help Violet clean up, but Lily gestured for him to go relax, and took over before it even got started.

Severus was only up for another hour or two before he headed back to his bedroom. Tired, he turned off the lights and then crawled into bed.

How long he laid there, staring up at the ceiling he didn't know. He'd maybe slept too long, but even then, he was still exhausted.

Hopefully, he'd feel better in the morning. When sleep finally overtook him, it was welcome indeed.

Severus sat down to write a letter to Lupin. He didn't know exactly what to say, but he felt he needed to. He needed to share something. It took a week, but in the end, what he wrote was very simple.

 _RL_

 _I hate the moon._

 _\- SS_

He quickly sent it off with an owl, not even sure why he sent it.

The message wasn't even all that true. He didn't hate the moon. When he was younger, Severus used to sit outside and stare at it while his father raged at his mother. It hadn't been comforting per se, but he'd never expected it to be, in truth.

What he hated was being a werewolf. No… scratch that. He absolutely loathed it.

His mother had hurt him, yes, but most of the breakdown wasn't even about that. He just hated the entire situation. At least he hadn't had the nightmares of the Shrieking Shack lately. He didn't want more pity.

Honestly…. He was terrified he'd hurt someone, and the transformations hurt like hell. Yes, they weren't as bad as initially, but they were still excruciating. He couldn't stand the loss of control either. Severus thrived on being in control. He desperately needed it, and now it was completely stripped away.

He was damn well going to try and find a cure soon if someone else didn't. He felt like he was going out of his mind.

The next morning, he got up early, showered, and dressed in some fresh clothes. Then, because depression, as usual, had reared its ugly head, Severus did the only thing he could: he started his summer homework. Homework was tedious, mind-numbing, and oh so easy to settle into doing. He spent most of the day on his assignments, ignoring everyone's attempts to cheer him up.

Surprisingly though, Lupin wrote back. The letter came a week after he had sent his off. Severus was a little surprised he bothered to reply and even more surprised when he felt almost happy he had. He took the letter from a bewildered Lily, then went to his bedroom, shut the door, and sat on his bed as he opened and read it.

 _SS_

 _Well, she's definitely a spiteful bint. Need to talk?_

 _\- RL_

It took two days for him to formulate a reply. He wasn't friends with Lupin. Why did he even want to talk to him? It was his fault he was in this mess anyways.

He shook his head.

Yes, he was certainly going around the twist.


	9. The Ministry Calls

If Severus had been in a mood lately, that was nothing to how he felt when we woke up one Wednesday morning to a small owl tapping at his window. Groggily, he registered that it was the Daily Prophet.

Rather annoyed at being woken up, he pushed himself up off the bed and made his way over to the window. He subsequently opened the window and watched as the owl flew in, and dropped the bundle on his bed. It then nipped at the air, and flew back out the way it came, hooting all the while.

He hadn't even had time to open the newspaper when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," he said.

The door opened, revealing Lily. The youngest Evans was clearly anxious. She obviously wanted to say something but wasn't forthcoming.

She glanced at his copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Have you –" said Lily, vaguely gesturing towards the paper.

"Not yet," he said, curiosity peaked. "What is it?"

"Read it," she said, sighing.

Now, he was even more concerned. He nervously unfolded the Prophet and glanced at the front page in complete shock. He barely got halfway through the article. He blinked, and then there was a light thud on the floor from the paper falling.

Lily was looking at him quite concerned, but Severus couldn't take his eyes off the front page.

On the front page was a picture of a short squat woman resembling a large pale toad. The Ministry official had a broad, flabby face, a wide, slack mouth, and little neck. Her eyes were bulging and pouchy, and she wore a black velvet bow in her mousy brown hair.

Things just had to keep going from bad to worse, didn't they? Every time things seemed like they might get a little better… His hands quite clearly shaking, he glanced back at the headline:

 **Ministry Tightens Reigns: New Werewolf Disclosure Clause Enacted**

He could distantly hear Lily speaking to him. He couldn't make out what she was saying though. It all seemed to come through in a haze. The article just kept replaying in his head. _Filthy half-breeds_ the spokeswitch for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures was quoted as saying.

Lily put her hand on his shoulder, and he shook his head, pulling himself out of his musings.

"I'm so sorry, Sev," said Lily.

Severus sighed, glancing at his best friend.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," he said, He sighed again. "Honestly, I'm not at all surprised by this woman. She's been doing things like this for years."

Lily gave a weak nod.

"I know," she said, her note of resignation matching his own. "That doesn't make it right, though, and this changes everything. How can she do this? That Umbridge woman just sentenced you all to poverty without even a thought. ONE DAY A MONTH! You change for ONE NIGHT!"

"YOU DON'T THINK I BLOODY WELL KNOW THAT?!" he yelled, uncharacteristically raising his voice. "I know EXACTLY what that stupid bint just cost me. We've all gotten around the formal register, but this… the second you ask for a full moon off…. There is no escaping this. Nobody will hire a werewolf. That's why the registry has failed so badly, nobody will even register, or go to the stupid support services. The stigma attached…"

"Remus didn't sign, did he?" Lily asked.

"Doubt it," Severus grumbled. "He wouldn't have managed to go to school otherwise. Dumbledore's rather keen on protecting him. I had to sign, however, as I needed medical attention that Pomfrey didn't have the means to provide. He did it through back channels, however, so that I was legal, but could stay at school. Kept it quiet, and did it through someone that wasn't prejudiced. Precious few in the division know about me, but If the woman starts digging, however…"

"You'll be removed from school," Lily said in a whisper.

"That's if she's feeling generous."

He then started to quote the Werewolf Code of Conduct:

"Warnings shall be issued to werewolves who fail to establish proper contact with the Support Services Office regarding their annual reviews," he said. "Additionally, the Werewolf Capture Unit or the DMLE may detain any werewolf considered rogue while in human form."

He sneered, before continuing.

"If deemed necessary by the Werewolf Capture Unit, the caseworker, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and any other appropriate Ministry officials," he said, "the werewolf shall be destroyed."

He paused.

"Where was I?" he continued. "Oh yes, to conclude, any werewolf failing to pass review shall be considered renegade and dangerous."

"Neither of you has attended a review, have you?" she asked, clearly catching on to why he saved that one for last.

"Nope," he said. "Not even one."

Both were caught off guard when two more owls flew into the bedroom.

Severus gulped as he saw one of the owls carrying a Ministry seal. He didn't recognise the other one, at first, but managed to place it as Remus Lupin's after a moment.

"Not hard to guess what that is," Lily said with a sigh.

Taking a deep breath, Severus opened the first envelope and began to read.

 _To the minor Werewolf, Severus Snape,_

 _[Case Num. 760165]_

 _We are writing to inform you of the recent revisions to the Werewolf Code of Conduct._

 _Please note the following new legislation:_

 _Section VII_

 _Employment_

 _Article A - Obtaining Employment_

 _Werewolves may not be prohibited from applying for any position for which they are qualified._ _Werewolves are required to disclose their nature to any prospective employer. Failure to do so may result in fine or detention at a Ministry approved facility._ _Lycanthropy may be considered adequate cause to refuse employment to any werewolf, regardless of qualifications, at the discretion of the prospective employer._ _Any change in employment status must be communicated to the Support Services Office caseworker within one fortnight (14 days) of said change._ _The Registry shall maintain the employment records of each werewolf on its rolls._ _Any prospective employer wishing to check the employment records of a werewolf applying for a position may do so by registered owl. Employment records may not be copied or removed from the Registry Office, but the employer may make an appointment (in person or by Floo) to review the werewolf's employment history._

 _Werewolves are considered to be poor candidates for the following fields and positions, including, but not limited to:_

 _1._ _Caregiver (private or group)_

 _2._ _Healer/Mediwizard/Mediwitch_

 _3._ _Teacher_

 _4._ _Customer Service_

 _5._ _Restaurant Services_

 _Werewolves are summarily disqualified from civil service positions, including, but not limited to:_

 _1._ _Ministry for Magic administrative support_

 _2._ _Auror_

 _3._ _Owl Office employee_

 _4._ _Floo Network Authority_

 _Article B - Termination of Employment_

 _Werewolves may be terminated at the discretion of their employers without prior notice._

 _Lycanthropy may be considered adequate reason to terminate a werewolf employee, under any or all of the following circumstances:_

 _1._ _Non-werewolf employee, newly bitten_

 _2._ _Non-disclosure of lycanthropy upon application/hire_

 _3._ _Repeated absences or tardiness due to the lunar cycle_

 _4._ _Any unsafe condition observed by the employer_

 _5._ _Dangerous contact with any customer or other employees_

 _6._ _Other behaviour, patterns of behaviour, or practice that might violate Ministry Regulations for the Control of Dangerous Creatures._

 _Any change in employment status must be communicated to the Support Services Office caseworker within one fortnight (14 days) of said change._

 _The Registry shall maintain the employment records of each werewolf on its rolls._

 _Upon termination of employment, the employer may choose to provide the Registry with a Termination Report (Ministry form No. 413,865/EQ772), which will become part of the werewolf's official employment history._

 _Notes:_

 _Unless otherwise specified, all communication with the Registry and Support Services Offices may be conducted by registered owl (preferred), by personal appointment or visit, by private or postal owl, or by Floo powder._

 _Remember, It is the responsibility of the werewolf to familiarise his or herself with all Regulations and to abide by them at all times._

 _Hoping you are well,_

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Delores Jane Umbridge_

 _Undersecretary for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures_

 _Beast Division_

 _Ministry of Magic_

With a sigh, he glanced up from the parchment.

"How bad?" Lily asked.

"Exactly as bad as it sounded," Severus said, voice cracking a little. "Here, read it."

She took the notice and read through it. A horrified look coming across her face.

"Sure, Werewolves may not be prohibited from applying for any position for which they are qualified," Severus said, "but that means nothing. _Lycanthropy may be considered adequate cause to refuse employment to any werewolf, regardless of qualifications, at the discretion of the prospective employer."_

"This anti-werewolf legislation is barbaric," said Lily.

He quirked his eyebrows.

 _"Lycanthropy may be considered adequate reason to terminate a werewolf employee if there are repeated absences or tardiness due to the lunar cycle," he said._ "Of course, there will be! It happens EVERY month. We can't just skip a month. Trust me, I wish I could."

"What does Remus' letter say?" Lily asked, trying to take his mind off things, or at least change the direction of the conversation.

"Probably something about this." He vaguely gestured towards the completely offensive ministry legislation notice.

Shaking his head, he picked up the letter from Lupin and started to read it.

 _SS_

 _I am going to assume that you got the rather unpleasant notice this morning? It's absolutely disgusting, but nothing new really... Umbridge has always had something against those not of pureblood. I kind of always knew I'd struggle to find work, though, you know?_

 _Prejudice against those inflicted is rather high, unfortunately. We're among the lucky few if there is such a thing._

 _That doesn't make it any less frustrating though, no?_

 _If it helps at all, eventually you get used to it._

 _I just keep hoping eventually someone at the Ministry will wake up. That might be a bit of a high hope though, given their perpetual obliviousness. Ah well, the vindictive bint strikes again. Lady Moon certainly keeps life interesting._

 _If you need to talk, or rant, you know where to find me._

 _Don't let this get you down too much. It's not worth it._

 _Remember what I said in my last._

 _\- RL_

Severus immediately burst out into a fit of laughter.

Lily just glanced at him slightly shocked.

"Sev?"

He just laughed.

"Are you going to share?" she said.

"Nothing," he said. "Lupin just managed to call the moon a vindictive bint and the ministry officials dunderheads all in one breath."

"Oh my," said Lily, now chuckling. "I think you're rubbing off on him."

"Hardly," he said. "You try transforming and tell me that vindictive bint is not the perfect description."

"I'll take your word for it," Lily said.

"Smart decision," he deadpanned.


	10. What Makes A Home

The rest of summer seemed to pass in a haze. Severus was still helping Hal with work in the shop, and he continued to find himself enjoying the physical labour. Surprisingly, Hal noted that Severus seemed to have a knack for it; the precision that was needed for some of the more exact work. It felt weird, being told by someone that they were proud of him. He didn't know what to do with that. But still, he liked the feeling it gave him. He'd wanted so badly to hear it, for so long.

Then there was the recent news in the Daily Prophet. Dumbledore had since contacted him, and assumingly also Lupin. He let them know that he'd used some connections in the Ministry to bury their files, and that, in the meantime, he was working to get the decree's repealed, or at least altered to be less discriminatory, and protect both parties. At the very least, the language needed to be changed. A total repeal would be the best case scenario. Unfortunately, no matter what occurred it would take some time. Dumbledore had a lot of political power, but even he did not have the power to change laws on a whim. There were systems in place. Dumbledore could get everything started, and encourage others to review their decisions, but ultimately, people had to be persuaded.

He'd thought about contacting Lupin again, but figured he'd see him at Hogwarts soon enough, regardless.

A part of him was still reluctant to trust the boy who has helped make his life hell. Lupin had many a time, ignored his friends as they bullied Severus.

But he was the one who truley understood. Lupin knew full well how helpless the entire situation felt. Even Lily, as much as she tried, didn't understand. Not in the same way. He didn't want her to either.

It was all so confusing.

On top of everything else, the Evanses had family from London come and visit. Her cousins Asher and Dhalia, along with their parents - Hal's side of the family. They were nice, but in the handful of times Severus had met them, he'd decided they really didn't have much in common. They mostly hung around Petunia, and honestly, that suited Severus just fine. He'd never been great with people if he was honest. And before they knew it, their Hogwarts letters had arrived. Then the next few days were a blur of back to school shopping, both for them and Petunia, who would be leaving for the University of London within the week.

She would be starting a secretarial course, clearly intending to get out of Cokeworth.

When they did make their way to Diagon Alley during the last week before school, it became clear that they Alley had changed. The colourful, glittering window displays of spellbooks, potion ingredients, and cauldrons were lost to view, hidden behind the large Ministry of Magic posters that had been pasted over them. Most of these sombre purple posters carried blown-up versions of the security advice on the Ministry pamphlets that had been sent out over the summer giving the attacks and disappearances that had been happening.

Unfortunately, that also came along with a lot of seedy individuals hanging about. Severus could easily spot a number of shabby-looking stalls had sprung up along the street. The nearest one, which had been erected outside Flourish and Blotts, under a striped, stained awning, had a cardboard sign pinned to its front: **AMULETS: Effective Against Werewolves, Dementors, and Inferi**

A seedy-looking little wizard was rattling armfuls of silver symbols on chains at passersby.

"One for you, young lady?" he called, leering at Lily. "Protect your pretty neck?"

Severus glared at the amulet seller, grabbing Lily's hand.

"Because there is no way they're not all faulty," Lily said sarcasticLlg. "Let's get out of here before someone does something stupid, shall we?"

"Truer words have never been spoken," he said with a snort. "They don't look remotely reputable."

"Stupid greed," Lily said, shaking her head.

Severus nodded. "Where do you wish to go first?"

"I think we'd better do Madam Malkin's first," said Lily. "I'm showing too much ankle in my school robes, and you've grown a lot too."

She had a point, Severus thought, as he glanced at both their robes. It felt strange not having to worry about the cost of his school supplies this year. The Evans' had made it very clear that they weren't letting him go back to school with shabby clothes and supplies.

He didn't think the red would ever fade after that conversation. It's not like he was able to help it. Honestly. He didn't ask to be born in poverty, and to an obnoxious drunk who just wasted the little money they did have.

"Very well," he said. "Come on then."

"Perfect."

While walking, everus noticed that many of the people who passed them had a harried, anxious look and that nobody was stopping to talk anymore; the shoppers stayed together in their own tightly knit groups, moving intently about their business. Nobody seemed to be shopping alone. Not that this was very surprising.

It wasn't long before they were stepping outside of Madam Malkin's, and entered the little shop together. It was empty when they went in.

"Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.

"New uniforms, dears?" she said when Lily started to speak.

"Yes, thank you, Ma'am," said Lily, smiling.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Follow me this way."

THe both of them were then lead to the back of the shop and went to stand on the stools. Both of them knew the drill at this point.

Madam Malkin slipped a long robe over Severus' head and began to pin it to the right length. A second witch did likewise with Lily.

She seemed rather distracted while doing his fitting, but it wasn't long before they were finished and she bowed them out of the shop.

"That's you done, my dear," she said to Severus, who immediately hopped down from the footstool. Lily wasn't finished much later.

They then made their way over to Flourish and Blotts to get their school books. For his Sixth Year he would need; The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 6, Quintessence: A Quest, Confronting the Faceless, Flesh-Eating Trees of the World, Advanced Potion-Making, Numerology and Grammatica, as well as A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration.

Severus had Advanced Potion-Making, Quintessence: A Quest, and The Standard Books of Spells from his mother, and didn't see the point of making the Evanses purchase new copies for no reason. The rest of the books he would need to purchase, however.

After Flourish and Blotts they went to Amanuensis Quills, the Magical Menagerie – where Severus didn't buy anything, and then popped in at the Apothecary. Both Lily and Severus were continuing Potions and needed to restock their ingredients. They could always do it throughout the year, but it made things much simpler this way.

"Would you like to stop by Florean Fortescue's? It _is_ quite hot out today," Lily suggested.

"Well, -"

"Sev, you should know by now my parents don't mind spending money on you," she said. "You're family."

"Still, I don't feel like costing them too much."

"Do you want me to smack you silly?" she said with a snort. "Relax, Sev."

"Oh, all right," he said awkwardly.

"Good," said Lily with a soft smile. "So Fortescue's, Sugarplum's Sweets, or the Leaky Cauldron?"

"I don't care," said Severus honestly. "You decide."

"Ice cream sounds good, but the Leaky Cauldron has actual food," said Lily thoughtfully. "It probably wouldn't be a bad idea."

"Leaky Cauldron it is then," he said. "

"All right, let's go," said Lily beaming.

Severus ended up having Cornish pasty for lunch, and Lily – some Steak and kidney pie. Both of them were excited about the upcoming year, although Severus was slightly anxious. They discussed the coming year, and what N.E.W.T.s they were planning on studying.

"Do you think anyone is continuing with History of Magic?"

"I can't think of anyone of the top of my head," said Lily.

"I'm not surprised."

"Nor I," said Lily. "In any case, we get more free blocks this year, right?"

"Yes, although I doubt they'll be truley free."

"Hmmm."

"You realise all that free time this year is so we study right?" stated Severus.

"And I thought we'd caught a break," teased Lily.

"You wish," he said with a snort. "You _do_ know what N.E.W.T.s stands for?" _Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test_

"Yes," she chuckled. "I still can choose to live in blissful ignorance, no?"

"If you wish." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, you know you love me."

Severus just huffed in reply, and they went back to their lunch.

After lunch, they went to Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment and finally the Apothecary.

"Do you have everything?" asked Lily.

"I think so," he said, giving his list another quick once-over.

"Brilliant," said Lily. "And we have a half-hour before we have to meet Mum back at the mall."

"Want to head there now?" he inquired. "It might take us that long."

"Actually, we have one more stop."

"We do?" .

"Yes," she said.

"And where would that be?"

"We have to go pick up some clothes I ordered from Madam Malkin's," said Lily.

"We were just there," he said, slightly confused.

"And I ordered some other clothes while you were being fited."

"Oh."

"They're for you actually."

"Lily -"

"Mum's orders, Sev!" said Lily. "This is why I didn't say anything until the last minute. It's already done. They're ordered."

Severus started wringing his hands.

"Relax, Sev. It's fine."

"I don't want -"

"Severus, you're not a burden. You need clothes and food. Your father might have thought they were previlages, but they shouldn't be."

"But -"

"Sev, you're a teenager. Let the adults worry about it."

"What did you order?"

"Well, I know Mum bought you three new muggle outfits. And I did the same with your dayrobes."

"Hmmm."

"Mum _wants_ to do this, Sev."

Severus nodded stiffly, following Lily to pick up his new clothes.

Once home, they spent most of the afternoon outside, avoiding Petunia, until they were called in for supper.

Severus admittedly wasn't hungry, and usually didn't eat much, but he didn't really have a choice at the Evans house, so forced himself to finish a plate, and then the seconds that Violet gave him.

"You're a growing boy, Severus." That was her response whenever he said he wasn't hungry. He'd since given up even arguing the point. He did notice it was getting easier though. And especially after a full moon, he was actually quite hungry.

He supposed his appetite was becoming somewhat normal. He knew his appetite hadn't been exactly healthy.

Oh well.

After supper, Hal through a film on the telly, and they sat down and watched it: _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory._

It was an odd film, Severus personally thought. He did enjoy himself, however. Watching the movie, and eating sweets; simply relaxing with the rest of the family. That was a weird thought. Hmmm. Maybe Lily was right. He was family.

That thought made his lips turn upwards, forming a small smile.

The film was about a boy named Charlie Bucket who received this Golden Ticket, which was part of a contest. With the ticket, he is allowed to go and visit a man named Willy Wonka's chocolate factory with four other children from around the world. A bunch of antics took place with the children, and the parents, as rather stupid decisions were made throughout. Some of it, which Severus did actually find quite entertaining.

They even had these weird singing numbers, where these creatures... Oompa Loompas... would sing in reaction to whatever ridiculous thing has just transpired.

It was quite a bizarre film, really.

"What was your favourite part, Sev?" Mrs Evans asked.

"Not sure."

"Hmmm," said Lily. "Well, mine was the scene where he showed the golden ticket. It was adorable, all the excitement and dancing."

"I couldn't stop watching the Oompa Loompas," Severus said with a snort. "They are odd, cheaky, little things."

"That is one way to describe them," said Petunia.

"My word," said Lily, "their songs are hilarious. I loved the blueberry scene."

"Of course you did," said Petunia.

"Everlasting bubblegum," Hal said.

"I thought the ending was sweet," Violet chimed in.

"Oh, it was," Lily agreed.

Not much later Severus helped clean up and went to his room to relax before likely going to sleep. It was already getting late when the film ended.

The room was actually quite clean, not surprising if you knew him. Severus had a tendancy to be slightly particular about his belongings. Not having much growing up, what he did have, he made sure to take care of and make last. The only thing particularly messy was the owl feathers by the recently acquired cage. Then there was a number of spellbooks lay higgledy-piggledy on his desk, alongside a mess of newspapers. The headline of one of the papers blared:

 **MINISTRY GUARANTEES STUDENTS' SAFETY**

 _Minister of Magic, Harold Minchum, spoke today of the tough new measures taken by his Ministry to ensure the safety of students returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this autumn._

 _"For obvious reasons, the Ministry will not be going into detail about its stringent new security plans," said the Minister, although an insider confirmed that measures include defensive spells and charms, a complex array of counter-curses, and a small task force of Aurors dedicated solely to the protection of Hogwarts School._

A large trunk stood in the very middle of the room, mere feet away from the owl cage, and his desk. Its lid was open; it looked expectant; yet it was almost empty but for a residue of old underwear, sweets, an empty ink bottle or two, and a broken quill at the very bottom. Nearby, on the floor, lay a purple leaflet emblazoned with the words:

 ** _Issued on behalf of The Ministry of Magic_**

 ** _PROTECTING YOUR HOME AND FAMILY AGAINST DARK FORCES_**

 _The Wizarding community is currently under threat from an organisation calling itself the Death Eaters. Observing the following simple security guidelines will help protect you, your family, and your home from attack._

 _You are advised not to leave the house alone._

"Not hard to figure out why," Severus thought to himself.

 _Particular care should be taken during the hours of darkness. Wherever possible, arrange to complete journeys before night has fallen._ _Review the security arrangements around your house, making sure that all family members are aware of emergency measures such as Shield and Disillusionment Charms, and, in the case of underage family members, Side-Along-Apparition._ _Agree on security questions with close friends and family so as to detect Death Eaters masquerading as others by use of the Polyjuice Potion (see page 2)._ _Should you feel that a family member, colleague, friend, or neighbour is acting in a strange manner, contact the Magical Law Enforcement Squad at once. They may have been put under the Imperius Curse (see page 4)._ _Should the Dark Mark appear over any dwelling place or other building, DO NOT ENTER, but contact the Auror office immediately._ _Unconfirmed sightings suggest that the Death Eaters may now be using Inferi (see page 10). Any sighting of an Inferius, or encounter with same, should be reported to the Ministry IMMEDIATELY._

He sighed. This summer would have been a reasonably happy, peaceful holiday - even with the transformations - had it not been for the stories of disappearances, odd accidents, even of deaths now appearing almost daily in the Prophet. Things were getting bad out there. That thought scared him. If anyone found out he was a werewolf... most already thought him dark. They didn't need to be able to label him a dark creature as well.

Werewolves were not exactly looked upon kindly, in either the Muggle or Magical worlds.

Strange, really... The Evans' being able to accept it as well as they had. Then again, they did accept Lily as being magical. Nor did they grow up hearing real-life horror stories. Sure, they had been slightly uneasy about it towards the beginning, but they seemed to accept Severus was only a monster one night a month. It wasn't him. Severus didn't even remember what happened during his transformations. It wasn't him. It was like somebody else taking over your body, and waking up several hours later wonder what had transpired. That still didn't sit well with him; not having control of anything, especially his memory.

Snapping out of his reveries, Severus glanced at the time. Realising it was late, he folded the paper back up and went to bed.


	11. The Return

The end of the summer vacation came too quickly for Severus' liking, he was now filled with the familiar foreboding about the school year to come. Going back to having to hide who he was, and being the Marauder's punching bag, was not something Severus was looking forward to.

On their last evening, Violet made up a lavish supper that included all of his and Lily's favourite things, ending with a mouth-watering treacle pudding. He then played a game of chess with Hal and then it was time for bed.

It took a long while to get started the next morning. They were both up at dawn, but somehow they still seemed to have a great deal to do.

Hal shook his head as Lily dashed about looking for spare socks and quills, half-dressed, with a piece of toast in her hand. He then helped her and Severus load their trunks into the car.

Finally, Hal started up the engine and they trundled out of the yard.

The journey to King's Cross was very uneventful, and they reached King's Cross at twenty to eleven. Severus and Hal then dashed across the road to get the trolleys for their trunks before they hurried into the station.

By now, the lot of them were more than familiar with the routine. Now, the tricky part was getting onto platform nine and three-quarters, which wasn't visible to the Muggle eye. What you had to do was walk through the solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. It didn't hurt, but it had to be done carefully so that none of the Muggles noticed you vanishing.

"Have a good term," Violet giving Lily a hug.

"And you," said Hal, glancing at Severus. "Don't get into too much trouble, lad."

"Never," he quipped. He knew his foster father was merely speaking in jest.

"Just don't do anything I wouldn't do," Hal said with a grin.

"Of course," said Severus with a smirk.

"Don't corrupt the boy, Hal," said Violet rolling her eyes.

"I reckon it's too late, Mum," said Lily, watching bemusedly.

"I fear you're right, Lily flower. Now, don't listen to Hal, Mister!" said Violet, as she moved to give Severus a hug. "He's always up to no good. Write, and we better see you at Christmas, laddie."

"I wouldn't miss it," Severus said with a grin.

"Perfect," and Severus was shocked, but pleased, when she gave him a second hug.

"Have a good term; the both of you!"

"And, Sev, make sure Lily studies!"

"DA!" said Lily, rolling her eyes. "I'm quite responsible thank you very much."

"No worries, Hal," Severus replied with a grin. "Lily will be seen with no less than ten textbooks at a time."

"Perfect," Hal jested.

"You hate me," said Lily, glaring at Severus. "I swear, you hate me."

"Revenge is a dish best served cold," he drawled.

"Oh, just you wait, Severus Tobias!" she threatened.

"Shaking in my boots, lassie!"

Hal just rolled his eyes.

"Run along you two," said Violet, checking the time. "You don't want to be late."

"True enough," said Lily. "See you two at Christmas if Severus doesn't have me half dead in the library."

"Would I ever?" Severus said, feigning innocence.

"Probably," she deadpanned. "I honestly wouldn't put it past you."

With a shrug, Severus made sure that Zeno - his recently acquired brown Tawny Owl - 's cage was safely wedged on top of his trunk and wheeled his trolley around to face the barrier, Lily doing similarly with her Barn Owl, Antheia. Waving goodbye to the Evanses, he and Lily bent low over the handles of their trolleys and walked purposefully toward the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it, Severus broke into a run and found himself on the platform; followed closely by his Lily. He then looked up to see the Hogwarts Express, a scarlet steam engine, puffing smoke over a platform packed with witches and wizards seeing their children onto the train.

"Oh, there is Frank and Alice!" said Lily, waving enthusiastically. The couple quickly noticed and made their way over to them.

"Do you want to sit with us or did you want to sit with your mates?"

"I'm not in the mood to deal with Mulciber right now," he said.

"Why?"

"Something happened?"

"Not really," he said. "He's just been annoying as of late." _More like... I never attended a meeting I was supposed to, and he will probably have my head for it. I'm not in the mood to deal with all the questions._

"If you're sure."

Moments later, Severus, Frank and Alice were walking down the corridor, looking for an empty compartment. As it turned out, all were full except for the one at the very end of the train. Marlene had apparently been saving them a compartment.

Lily had to go to the Prefects' compartment for the first part of the journey but said she would join them when she could.

The train began to move, and Alice leaned out of the window and waved at her parents until the train turned a corner and blocked them from view. Houses flashed past the window.

"What all did you lot do these past few weeks?" Frank asked.

"Well, my family and I - " said Marlene, and immediately they began swapping stories and chattering away.

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.

Around half past one, there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Both Lily, who had finally managed to join them, and Frank stood up. Marlene followed suit.

Lily paid who silver Sickles and eight bronze Knuts for some Chocolate Frogs, and Cauldron Cakes. Marlene grabbed some Licorice Wands and Pumpkin Pasties.

Frank grabbed some Cauldron Cakes and Licorice Wands.

When the lot had sat back down all the treats were split amongst the group.

The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.

At long last, having changed into their school robes, the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; owls hooted, cats meowed, and the Head Boy and Girl could be seen trying to help direct the students to where they needed to go.

"Firs' years this way!" called a familiar voice. Severus and the others turned and saw the gigantic outline of Hagrid at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward for their traditional journey across the lake.

Severus and Lily followed the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches awaited the remaining students, each pulled, Severus could only assume, by an invisible horse, because when they climbed inside and shut the door, the coach set off all by itself, bumping and swaying in procession.

The carriage slowly trundled toward a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars.

The carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle; Lily was leaning out of the tiny window, watching the many turrets and towers draw nearer. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, and they got out and made their way up the stone steps to the castle.

The lot of them joined the crowd swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, into the cavernous entrance hall, which was lit with flaming torches and housed a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors.

The door into the Great Hall stood open at the right, and the group made their way inside.

The Great Hall looked like its usual splendid self. Decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in mid-air. The four long house tables were becoming packed with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils.

He then waved goodbye to Lily, as they made their way to their separate tables.

"I'm tempted to smack you," said Mulciber as Severus took his seat at the Slytherin table.

"Can I ask why?"

"You missed the meeting this summer, didn't reply to my letters, and then there is how you were acting at the end of last year," Mulciber said. "You also didn't join us in our compartment. You always join us."

"I was occupied."

"And we both know what that means," the other boy said with a sneer. "I'd be careful, by the way. Malfoy wasn't exactly pleased."

"I spent most of the summer ill," Severus hissed. "And had a million and one family issues going on. I also didn't have an access to an owl for some time."

"Your bastard of a father?" Avery asked.

"Is it ever anyone else?" Severus deadpanned.

"What happened?"

"Disowned."

"Oh. I'm sorry then," said Mulciber. _Yeah right, you git._ "Although, I can't say it hasn't done you some good."

"I'll say," said Avery.

"You have no idea," he quipped. "At any rate, send Lucius my humble apologies."

"Certainly." Mulciber gave a curt nod. "Although, I think I'll leave out the word humble... it's _you."_

"Arse," he said Severus with a bemused smirk. "It's not my fault I'm more intelligent than half the dunderheads at this establishment."

"And you just proved my point," said Mulciber, amused. "I will, however, intercede on your behalf."

"I am much obliged."

The two nosey nebbies appeased for the moment, they watched as Professor McGonagall led a long line of first-years up to the top of the hall. All of them were shaking from nerves as they filed along the staff table and came to a halt in a line facing the rest of the school.

Profession McGonagall now placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first-years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty, patched wizard's hat. The first-years stared at it, as did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:

 **'So here the story begins,**

 **Smart Ravenclaw, bright and clever,**

 **Was always on the ball.**

 **She took the quick and able,**

 **Each and every one,**

 **To teach them our ways,**

 **Cunning Slytherin, shrewd and witty,**

 **Would do anything to reach his ends,**

 **Bold Gryffindor, brave and stubborn,**

 **Audacious, and true to his nobility and daring,**

 **He welcomed those brave at heart**

 **To sit with him at his table.**

 **Kind Hufflepuff, caring and considerate,**

 **She took the miscellany,**

 **Each and every one.**

 **These for great Houses,**

 **To which do you belong?**

 **So, come now, and put me on.**

 **I'll look into your heart,**

 **And show you where you'll call home.'**

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"Allen, Christa."

A terrified-looking girl stumbled forwards and put the Hat on her head; it only just managed to not falling right down to her shoulders. The Hat considered for a moment, then the rip near the brim opened again and shouted: "Hufflepuff!"

The Hufflepuff table clapped loudly as Christa Allen made her way to their table and sat down, looking quite happen to have the debacle over and done with.

"Baker, Ethan."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Blishwick, Simon" went to Ravenclaw, as well as "Carter, Lydia." The Ravenclaw table exploded in cheers. "Flores, Rionach." was quickly sorted and became the first new Slytherin.

Then there was "Harper, Joshua," "Jacobs, Chase," and "Longhurst, David" who ended up going to Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.

Slowly the long line of first-years thinned, and Severus could hear Avery's stomach rumbling loudly.

"Can we eat already?"

"You'll live," he said with a snort.

"Arse."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Of course you will."

"Obviously."

As tedious as the Sorting was, they watched as the line continued to thin.

"Sayre, Martha" was immediately sorted into Slytherin along with her brother.

"I knew you could do it," came her elder brother, William's voice.

"Welcome to Slytherin," the Slytherin Prefects could be heard saying.

The sorting dragged on and at last, there were only a handful of students left to be sorted.

Finally, "Xavier, Michael," was called and they watched as he made his way up to the stool, and was quickly sorted into Gryffindor. Professor McGonagall then picked up the Hat and stool and marched them away. Professor Dumbledore then rose to his feet.

"To our newcomers," said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, "welcome! To our old hands – welcome back! I have only two words to say to you; tuck in!"

Not seconds later, and the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes.

"Finally," Avery said.

"You're a pig, Callum."

"And you're not, Taurin?"

"If you don't mind, some of us would like to eat," Severus said with a snort. "Just shove some food in your mother Callum, before I try out a hex I learned over the summer."

"You remember when I called you an arse?"

"Yes?"

"Just checking."

"Never change, Snape!" Evan Rosier said with a laugh. "Never change."

Rolling his eyes, Severus loaded his plate, giving himself a rather generous serving of mashed potatoes.

Once everyone had their fill, the remains of the first course vanished and were replaced instantly with puddings.

The new Slytherins were stuffing their faces, and one was talking with his mouth full, which Severus was utterly revolted by.

Everyone was talking about their new Defence Professor and were all wondering what Defence would be like, and if his stories were true. The Steward family had quite a reputation, James Steward in particular.

When the puddings, too, had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased almost at once.

"Welcome!" said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!"

He paused before continuing.

"I have several announcements. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well," stated Dumbledore; his twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of Black and Potter.

"I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors," continued Dumbledore. "Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should give their names to their Heads of House as usual."

"Merlin, I hate Filch," said Rosier. "The stupid squib."

"Do you want Pringle back?"

"No," said Rosier with a wince.

"That's what I thought."

Apollyon Pringle was a complete arse. All the students hated him, and with good reason. Yes, Filch was a bitter git, but Pringle literally ran the corridors with an iron fist. Merlin, help whoever he caught stepping out of line; the man did everything he could to find trouble. If you so much as got a speck of dirt on the floor, Pringle would lose it, not unlike Filch, actually. Fortunately, Filch had more restraint. Many a student had been caned for being out late or various other offences by the old hag. Quite a few older students still had marks from Pringle.

At least you didn't have to be scared of Filch. All he'd do was whine. Pringle was another matter altogether.

"The best thing the filthy squib ever did was retire," William Sayre said.

"Ain't that the truth," Rosier said.

Pringle retired at the end of Severus' first year, and nobody had looked back. Severus was of the opinion, that even his colleagues hadn't particularly liked him.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued "And finally, I am pleased to welcome a new teacher to our ranks this year. Professor James Steward, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"Well, he should be decent then," Stebbins said.

"I believe so if even half of what the rumours say is true."

There a wave of enthusiastic applause as the red-haired Defence Instructor stood up.

"Yes, welcome Professor Steward," Dumbledore said, the usual twinkle in his eyes.

The Headmaster then gave the word that it was time for them all to go to bed. Not needing to be told twice, they made their way out of the Great Hall with the other Slytherins, before turning to go through a door on the right.

They then descended the stone steps, making their way down to the dungeons.

Once there, Severus found his old dormitory, which now had a sign on it saying SIXTH YEARS. He entered the familiar, circular room, with its six four-posters hung with dark green and its high, narrow windows, looking out under the lake. Their trunks had been brought down for them and stood at the ends of their beds.

That night he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.


	12. The Half-blood Prince

The next morning Severus woke up early and quickly had a shower, being careful not to wake all his housemates up. It did appear, however, that he wasn't the only one awake at the early hour. Most would have to wake up soon, regardless. After showering, he cast a quick drying charm, through on his uniform and made his way down to breakfast, where, as was custom, they all received their timetables for the year.

Severus had opted to continue with Study of Ancient Runes, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Care of Magical Creatures. He'd also elected to take Alchemy which was only offered in the last two years. He opted to discontinue Astronomy and History of Magic. He didn't know of anyone in particular who had actually opted to continue History of Magic now that the mandatory O.W.L for the subject had been obtained. Nobody was a fan of Binns' class. As for the others. he didn't see them being any use to him. He did enjoy history, just not the way that Binns taught it. Severus intended just to study it more on his own time, which was hardly unheard of for him to do. He was, as his friends had not so delicately put it more than once, a swot.

He helped himself to some eggs, sausage links, black pudding, English bacon, and breakfast potatoes, while some of his housemates started taking their seats.

"You were up early," came Avery's voice.

"Not that early," he said with a snort.

"I know, but still," Avery said, pouring a glass of pumpkin juice. "You're feeling better then?"

"You said you were quite ill this past summer?" Rosier chimed in.

"Yes," he said. "I am feeling quite a bit better though, thankfully."

"Good to hear," Avery said approvingly as he took a bite of sausage. "You were in the hospital wing a lot last year."

"Hmm."

"So, where did you end up staying, anyway?" Mulciber asked.

"Why do you care?"

"Just curious," Mucliber said with a shrug.

"Foster home," he grumbled. He was decidedly not saying that he was living with the Evanses. He would never hear the end of it and they'd just be relentless. He would stay mum on this one, and it _was_ true.

"Ah."

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling better, Snape," said Rosier. "Like Avery said, you were in the hospital wing a lot last year."

"Gryffindors are hazardous to your health," he deadpanned.

"True enough," Rosier said with a snort. "But still - if I didn't know better, I'd swear you've caught whatever that Lupin bloke's got. He's practically lived in the hospital wing since first-year."

"Why are you watching Lupin of all people, Evan?" he said wryly. "You've got a crush?"

"You little -!" he said, before chuckling. "Not even. However, I just find it curious. It's weird."

"Any theories on what's wrong with him?" he asked, hoping to hide the nervousness in his voice.

"Just that he's an arse-licker," Rosier said with a snort, taking another bite of eggs.

"I've never agreed with you more," he said wryly.

"Oi, Taurin, did you hear about that new chaser from the Wimbourne Wasps?" Regulus Black inquired, swiftly changing the conversation.

"Actually, yes." And just like that, the conversation took a different turn. Severus had never been so thankful for a Black in his life. The entire conversation did concern him, however. Did Rosier know? What would happen if news got out? He'd have to warn Dumbledore and Lupin and he would have to be a lot of careful from now on or someone really would make the connection. Rosier was dangerously close already. Severus wasn't fooled. Rosier knew more than he was letting on. It was only Slytherin not to reveal your hand after all. He was sure, however, that Rosier hadn't settled on any one theory yet.

He didn't think he could handle it if news got out, and the fact that it might soon rather scared him. How much longer could he and Lupin keep the secret for?

To say that he was stressed when he made his way to Study of Ancient Runes would be an understatement.

At least it was the first day, and they started doing anything too complex as of yet. But still, he'd need his wits about him as much as possible in Alchemy. It was far from being an easy class. If he hadn't known that before, then he quickly learned that.

Professor Barnes, as he quickly learned, was rather strict but did seem fair enough - not unlike McGonagall.

He'd gotten an elbow from his neighbour to pay attention, which luckily the professor hadn't noticed. Severus had quickly shaped up and tried to focus on the lesson. All in all, it went rather smoothly.

He did make a mental note to read ahead a bit though, as there was one aspect that was rather confusing to him that the professor said they would be discussing next class. He just hoped that missing the occasional class do to the full moon wouldn't harm his grade as much as he feared it might.

When the bell finally rang for Potions, he quickly found out that just over a dozen of them were actually progressing to N.E.W.T. level. There were two Hufflepuffs, and an assortment of students from other houses. Ravenclaws were close to having the majority, however. No surprise there - they were the House of love for all things knowledge, after all.

He and Lily quickly chose a station and began setting everything up when the dungeon door opened and Slughorn's belly preceded him out of the door. As he and the other students filed into the room, his great walrus moustache curved above his beaming mouth and he greeted Lily and Severus with particular enthusiasm.

The dungeon was, most unusually, already full of vapours and odd smells. Severus and Lily sniffed interestedly at the odd smells.

Severus and Lily had picked the table nearest a gold-coloured cauldron that was emitting one of the most alluring scents Severus had ever come across.

The first smell that hit him was fresh parchment, followed by something flowery – Oxlip, like those back in Cokeworth, at their spot, and a waft of strawberry shampoo. He found that he was breathing very slowly and deeply and that the potion's fumes seemed to be filling him up like a drink. A great contentment stole over him; he grinned across at Lily, who wasted no time in reply with a lazy smile of her own.

"Now then, now then, now then," said Slughorn, whose massive outline was quivering through the many shimmering vapours. "Scales out, everyone, and potion kits, and don't forget your copies of Advanced Potion-Making."

Everyone quickly started rummaging through their things.

"Now then," said Slughorn, returning to the front of the class and inflating his already bulging chest, so that the buttons on his waistcoat threatened to burst off, "I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kind of thing you ought to be able to make after completing your NEWTs You ought to have heard of 'em, even if you haven't made 'em yet. Anyone tell me what this one is?"

He indicated the cauldron towards the right. Severus raised himself slightly in his seat and saw what looked like plain water boiling away inside it.

His hand hit the air before anybody else's; Slughorn pointed at him.

"It's Veritaserum, sir," he swiftly responded. "It's a colourless, odourless potion that forces anyone who drinks it, to tell the truth under its influence."

"Very good, very good!" said Slughorn happily. "Now," he continued, pointing at the cauldron nearest Lily and Severus' table, which was slow bubbling, mud-like substance. "This one here is pretty well-known. It's featured in a few Ministry leaflets lately as well. Can anyone tell me-?"

Severus' hand shot up at once, "That's Polyjuice potion, sir," he stated. "It allows the drinker to take the form of another, for periods of up to an hour, although it is strictly for human transformation."

This earned Severus a glare from Potter and Black, as they clearly understood the buried insult. _Good._

"Excellent, excellent!" chimed Slughorn. "Now, this one here… Yes, my dear?"

The cauldron he was now directing their attention towards had a distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen, and the steam rose in characteristic spirals.

At this Slughorn was looking slightly bemused as Lily's hand punched the air. Severus had, of course, immediately recognised it, but he wasn't answering this question to save his life. Especially not if Lily knew the answer. He could only think of what would go around the Hogwarts rumour mill if he did.

No. It was decidedly not worth it.

"It's Amortentia, sir," stated Lily without hesitation. "It's an extremely powerful love potion, which smells differently to individuals based off of what personally attracts them."

"It is indeed," said Slughorn happily. "Twenty points to Gryffindor and Slytherin."

Lily and Severus exchanged smirks.

"Now, Amortentia doesn't really create love, of course. It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love. Amortentia will simply cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. It is for that reason that it is probably the most dangerous potion in this room right now."

"And now," said Slughorn, "it's time for us to get to work."

"Sir, you haven't told us what's in this one," said Belby, a Ravenclaw, pointing at a small black cauldron standing on Slughorn's desk. The potion within was splashing about merrily; it was the colour of molten gold, and large drops were leaping like goldfish above the surface, though not a particle had spilt.

"Oho," said Slughorn again. Severus was sure that Slughorn had not forgotten the potion at all, but had waited to be asked for dramatic effect. "Yes. That. Well, that one, ladies and gentlemen, is a most curious little potion called Felix Felicis. "I have no doubt," he turned, smiling, to look at Severus, "that you know what Felix Felicis does, Mr Snape?"

"Felix Felicis is otherwise known as liquid luck," he said. "It makes the drinker lucky."

The whole class seemed to sit up a little straighter. Now all Severus could see of Potter was the back of his messy black head, because he was, at last, giving Slughorn his full and undivided attention.

"Quite right, take ten points for Slytherin. Yes, it's a funny little potion, Felix Felicis," said Slughorn. "Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavours tend to succeed... at least until the effects wear off."

Severus saw Dorcas Meadowes and Alice Fortescue quickly whispering something before Meadowes put her hand up.

"Why isn't more commonly used, sir?" Meadowes asked eagerly.

"Because if taken in excess, it causes giddiness, recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence," said Slughorn. "Too much of a good thing, you know... highly toxic in large quantities. But taken sparingly, and very occasionally..."

"Have you ever taken it, sir?" asked Belby with great interest.

"Twice in my life," the Potions Master said. "Two tablespoonfuls taken with breakfast. Two perfect days."

The excited murmuring was back in full force. All the while, Slughorn gazed dreamily into the distance. Whether he was play-acting or not, thought Severus, the effect was good.

"And that," said Slughorn, apparently coming back to earth, "is what I shall be offering as a prize in this lesson."

There was silence in which every bubble and gurgle of the surrounding potions seemed magnified tenfold.

"One tiny bottle of Felix Felicis," said Slughorn, taking a minuscule glass bottle with a cork in it out of his pocket and showing it to them all. "Enough for twelve hours' luck. From dawn till dusk, you will be lucky in everything you attempt."

"Wow," said Lily.

"I know," he whispered back.

"Now, I must give you warning that Felix Felicis is a banned substance in organised competition... sporting events, for instance, examinations, or elections," said Slughorn. "So the winner is to use it on an ordinary day only... and watch how that ordinary day becomes extraordinary!"

"So," said Slughorn, suddenly brisk, "how are you to win this fabulous prize? Well, by turning to page ten of _Advanced Potion-Makin_ g. We have a little over an hour left to us, which should be time for you to make a decent attempt at the Draught of Living Death. I know it is more complex than anything you have attempted before, and I do not expect a perfect potion from anybody. The person who does best, however, will win little Felix here. Off you go!"

There was a scraping as everyone drew their cauldrons toward them and some loud clunks as people began adding weights to their scales, but nobody spoke. The concentration within the room was almost tangible. During this Severus made several changes to it, writing them in the margins.

Where the books said to cut, Severus found that crushing the Sopophorous Bean with the flat side of the silver dagger released the juice better. Lily gave him a funny look when he picked up his silver knife until the potion immediately turned exactly the shade of lilac described in the textbook.

Lily's was still a deep purple, although hers was still better than most of the students. She then decided to go with Severus's theory and moved to correct where she had gone wrong.

He could hear quiet murmuring from the table next to him as they noticed Severus was going off script, again.

"How is he doing that?"

"Don't ask me," the other boy asked with a snort.

"You do understand what a rhetorical question is, yes?"

"Hmmm."

"I doubt it was really rhetorical," Severus murmured, causing Lily to giggle.

"True, but I doubt he actually expected his friend to know," she said.

"True enough," he agreed.

Smirking, Severus shrugged and moved onto the next set of instructions. According to the book, he had to stir counterclockwise until the potion turned clear as water. He glanced around at a few cauldrons and quickly glanced over the list of ingredients again.

Eventually, he decided he ought to add a clockwise stir after every seventh counterclockwise stir. It couldn't hurt, and if what he just saw in Lily's cauldron was any indication, it might actually work better. It would help with the amalgamation and all that. He hoped, anyway.

As he did this the effect was immediate. The potion turned pale pink.

Perfect.

Severus glanced around. As far as he could see, no one else's potion had turned as pale as his. He smirked. Lily's was the closest, but even hers still had colour to it.

"And that's all the time we have for today," Slughorn announced. "Please stop stirring."

Slughorn moved slowly among the tables, peering into cauldrons. He made no comment, but occasionally gave the potions a stir or a sniff. At last, he reached the table where Severus and Lily were sitting. He smiled ruefully at the tarlike substance in one of the Hufflepuffs' cauldrons, just beside, before looking at theirs. Lily's potion earned a notable nod of approval. Then he saw Severus', and a look of absolute delight spread over his face.

"Well, well, the clear winner!" he cried to the dungeon. "Absolutely brilliant, Severus! Never in all my years... You're the first person to make a potion of sufficient quality to claim this prize. Here you are, then, here you are - one bottle of Felix Felicis, as promised. Do use it well!"

Severus slipped the tiny bottle of golden liquid into his inner pocket, feeling delighted at the furious looks on Potter and Black's faces and the impressed expression on Lily's. A couple other students simply looked simply dumbfounded, although a few Ravenclaws looked impressed as well, with a slight tinge of frustration that they couldn't figure out where they went wrong. Severus was rather pleased that he'd thought to write down the alterations he'd made.

Potter had started going off on a tangent about Severus obviously having cheated.

"No, I just study," Severus returned quickly. "Unlike some."

The look he received from Potter was well worth it.

"Don't be too hard on him, Sev," said Lily, still grinning. "He doesn't know his left from his right. How can you expect him to understand such a concept as opening a book once in a while?"

"OI!"

"Off to lunch?" Lily suggested, ignoring Potter. "And then everyone is going out by the lake. You could come. If you wanted I mean -"

"Sure. Lead the way," he said, returning her grin.


	13. Of Wizards and Poltergeists

For the next few days, Severus kept to himself and buried himself in his schoolwork trying to ignore the gossip amongst a few of his housemates concerning Severus being sick quite often. The thought of anyone finding out made him nauseous, and as Severus dealt with most stress, he threw himself into his books. He just wanted to get through this year with decent grades and nobody figuring out he was now a horrible monster.

How the hell did Lupin deal with all of this?

Wait... did he really just ask himself that?

Not bothering to contemplate this development, he went back to focusing on class.

Severus was so busy tuning everyone – save the professors – out that he hadn't even realised when the bell rang in Transfiguration signalling lunch.

Avery had called his name and then taken to poking Severus in the shoulder with his wand. The great git. Could have blown his shoulder off if he had made a slight mistake.

"Are you coming or not, Severus?" Mulciber drawled.

"Fine, fine," he said waving them off.

"Oh, you owe me ten galleons," Avery said with a pointed look.

"And what foolish scheme did you drag me into now, might I ask?" he said wryly.

"We made a bet on if you even noticed class finished," Avery said. "You didn't."

"Go sell you dung to someone who cares, you arses," he said with a snort. "Consider the lost galleons as payment for you damn near blowing off my arm."

"You're fine," Avery said coolly.

"And you have the intelligence of a flobberworm," Severus replied with a sneer. "The next time you ever touch me with your wand I'll use you as practice for an Entrail-Expelling hex I recently learned."

"You wouldn't!" Avery hissed, much to Mulciber's evident amusement.

"I assure you," Severus said icily, "that it would be a great pleasure of mine."

Avery gave him the two-fingered salute. Severus just rolled his eyes.

"You're a right bastard, Snape," said Mulciber with a laugh. "You know that, right?"

"You can say that again," said Avery coolly. "In any case, I'm bored. Let's go play a little game of baiting."

"Excellent idea," said Mulciber. "You in, Severus?"

"Obviously."

"Perfect."

He quickly threw his books and quills in his bag and tossed the strap over his shoulder. They then made their way a few corridors down and spotted a shy second-year that frequently made a fool of himself.

Mulciber pointed in the young boy's direction. It didn't take much effort to corner him inside an empty classroom after that. It rarely did.

"Oh, it's you again," the brunet second-year said. There was a note of resignation in his voice, as he moved to try and get out of the room.

"Going somewhere, are we, O'Connor?"

"Surely not," Avery said. "After all, we thought we'd have a nice chat."

"Err – I should…" the boy stammered.

"Look," said Mulciber chuckling. "It can't even speak English properly."

"Pathetic," Severus said. "Truly pathetic."

"Just like daddy, no doubt," Mulciber jeered.

Images of Tobias came forward, and Severus' anger towards his father bubbled to the surface. He spoke. "Your filthy little _Muggle_ father. Revolting."

The boy looked close to tears at this point.

"I just..." the youngster stuttered again.

"filthy _mudblood_."

The words left Severus' mouth before he had even registered them. He fought to keep the horror off of his face. He had just… and Lily… He'd said… the Evanses had… Was this really who he was?

Yes, his father was horrible and his mother had basically abandoned him except for one visit and a letter, but still... The Evanses had taken him in. They'd been doing everything they could to help him and support him.

How could he have just done what he'd done?

He didn't hate Muggles, and certainly had no issues with Lily being a Muggle-born.

What was bloody well wrong with him?

Severus shifted uncomfortably, but luckily neither of his mates noticed. He quickly pushed the guilt out of his mind. Scarcely discerning the boy had run out of the room in tears.

"Well that was fun," Avery said oozing mirth.

"Easy pickings," he said with a snort.

Regrettably, the guilt didn't diminish that painlessly, and that night sleep itself eluded him.

He spent most of the night tossing and turning.

Waking up with a jolt after a rather bad nightmare, he got up, showered, and threw on his school robes.

 _That's not going to happen. Nobody_ knows _. They won't find out. You're fine._ That was the mantra he kept replaying in his head.

Finally, he was dressed, and he went down for breakfast. Everyone was chatting about the events from yesterday and Severus was fighting to keep the colour off his face. He had put up with it last night, and it was even worse this morning.

Grumbling to himself, he got up and went to do some studying before class started. He didn't particularly need to, but it was better than dealing with everything else that had been going on.

For the most part, though, he was enjoying his classes - when left alone, that is. As came as little surprise, the sixth-years' free periods were not hours of idyllic relaxation, but times in which to attempt to keep up with the vast amount of homework which they were being set by any and all teachers. Not only were most students studying as though they had exams every day, but the lessons themselves had become more demanding than ever before; even Severus had had to ask a professor to repeat instructions once or twice, Lily too.

Non-verbal spells were now expected, not only in Defence Against the Dark Arts but in Charms and Transfiguration too.

Their defence instructor was actually competent, in Severus' opinion, although students seemed to want to ask him more personal questions than actually letter the professor teach.

The few times the teacher looked dismayed at all the chatter and lack of genuine interest in the topic he wanted to cover, Severus had no issue sympathising with the poor bloke. The questions were getting on his nerves too, and he really would like to actually learn something for once.

In any case, time would tell just how competent this professor actually was.

Severus frequently looked over at his classmates in the common room or at mealtimes to see them purple in the face and straining, as they struggled to make spells work without saying the incantations aloud. Both Lily and he were becoming a lot more comfortable with it, although Lily, unsurprisingly, given her predilection, found simple charms easier. Severus found the defensive or offensive spells easier.

It was a relief to get outside into the greenhouses; they were dealing with more dangerous plants than ever in Herbology, but at least they were still allowed to swear loudly if the Venomous Tentacula seized them unexpectedly from behind.

Lily frowned on swearing, but even she agreed that certain vocabulary just did not have the same effect when in pain due to those stupid things.

That was an experience you wanted to avoid having but was unfortunately all too common. Nasty things.

Today they had two free periods, which meant they basically had the afternoon to themselves. Both Severus and Lily did a lot of studying during this, though several of Lily's friends wanted to go hang out in the grounds and take a break. He did join them for a bit, which was nice.

He was beginning to feel a bit more comfortable around them, and they seemed to be warming up to him.

The afternoon was fairly uneventful until Severus, who was now walking alone, was cornered by Peeves who snuck up on him, dropped waste-paper basket on his head, and started pelting him with pieces of chalk from a nearby empty classroom.

"Bugger off, Peeves!" Severus hissed, a scowl firmly on his lips.

"Ickle Sevie's got a secret," cooed Peeves. "Ickle Sevie's got a -"

 _Just bloody brilliant!_ "Shut it, Peeves!"

"I shall not."

"What do I have to do to get you to deaf it?" he sneered.

"Hmmm, sing in the Entrance Hall."

"Not happening."

The poltergeist shrugged. "Your choice. Sevie is a -"

"Peeves!" Oh, Merlin. Please don't let anyone hear this. He normally wasn't one for praying, but now seemed a good a time to start as any. If Peeves was actually stupid enough to go blabbing...

"Ickle Sevie's got a secret..."

Peeves didn't back off, and followed Severs for several corridors, tossing things at him, and singing until the Bloody Barron finally appeared. Thankfully, he forced Peeves to relent. Although happy that Peeves had finally backed off, Severus was scowling, all the way up to the Great Hall.

The relief he'd felt at not having any spectators was tempered by the horror that Peeves could just do this again some other day, and he might not get that lucky next time. And the feeling of being an idiot... Why didn't he threaten to go to the Bloody Barron in the first place? Where did his head go?

What was he? A rookie first year? He shook his head.

"What's got your wand in a knot?"

"Nothing," he said in a low growl.

Thankfully, everyone seemed to catch the hint and left Severus alone.


	14. A Heart to Heart

Nothing improved in the slightest as the next few weeks passed and Halloween came and went. Severus just couldn't shake the feeling that somebody was going to put the pieces together and figure out his secret. Peeves had tried to corner him again, and he was getting more than a few curious glances.

Lily seemed to be in good spirits, but even she wasn't able to cheer him up any.

"Severus."

Severus jumped slightly, caught off guard.

"It's just me," the person said. "Relax."

He turned around to face his schoolmate. "Lupin."

"You seem stressed."

"Let me guess," he ventured "Lily sent you."

"She's concerned, and it seems like she's right to be." The other boy paused. "What's going on?"

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Deal with it," he clarified.

"The stress of everyone finding out?" the other boy guessed.

"Yes." He gave a curt nod.

"Honestly, you just have to learn to live with it," Lupin said. "It'll always be there to some degree, I think. It took me a long time to even talk to my friends. They more or less confronted me though. Why? Have people been asking questions?"

"Yes," he said with a sigh. "I think one or two are close to figuring it out."

"And?"

"And what?"

"You're holding something back."

"Peeves," he admitted. He then went to explain the entire ordeal with Peeves.

To his credit, the other werewolf listened dutifully and passed no judgment, carefully not interrupting Severus' ramblings. If he thought that Severus confiding in him was odd, he didn't give any sign of it.

"What do you intend to do?"

"I don't know," he hissed. "If I did, I wouldn't be this damn stressed."

"Go to Dumbledore, perhaps?"

"He'll think I am overreacting."

"You might find yourself surprised."

"I'm not going."

"It's your choice," the other boy said with a shrug. "It was just a suggestion."

"Hmmm."

"What would you like to do?"

"I don't know," he said with a sigh.

"Well, whatever you decide, I'm right there with you."

Severus gave him a small nod of acknowledgement. "We should probably head to our next class."

"That we should."

The whole way to his next class, Severus couldn't get the surrealness of the situation out of his head. How had things gotten so twisted that the only person who understood even half of what he was going through was Lupin of all people?

And Severus wasn't typically one to ask for help either, but was it so wrong to want some support for once?

Severus was pleased to get out of the castle after eating lunch. The earlier rain had cleared; the sky was a clear, pale grey, and the grass was springy and damp underfoot as Lily and he set off for a walk around the lake.

It was nice to have a moment that was just between them; no house rivalry, no drama.

"We won't be able to do this much longer before it gets too cold," Lily said.

"Don't remind me," he said with a snort. "Everyone goes off the trolley."

"Ain't that the truth," she said with a laugh. "To be fair, what do you expect when so many teenagers are cooped up?"

"You'd think they'd at least allow heating charms outside of class."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Because teenagers would never find a way to abuse that."

"Why punish those of us who aren't completely stupid?" Severus deadpanned.

"We can't all have your vast intelligence, oh wise one," she quipped.

"How unfortunate," he drawled.

Lily couldn't help but burst out laughing. "There he is."

"Who?"

"My non-depressed, witty, best friend."

Severus rolled his eyes.

"I'm glad you're feeling a bit more like yourself," she said.

"It's just been one thing after another lately," he said with a shrug.

"I know." She gave him a hug and went on to tell an amusing story, making Severus almost forget about his worries.

Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a couple flights up the castle staircase when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them.

It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.

"Ickle Sevie, Sevie, Sevie. Tut tut tut."

"Shut up, Peeves - please - just leave us alone."

Peeves cackled.

"Sevie has a secret. Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty. "

"Not if you don't give me away, Peeves, please. "

"Should tell, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know. "

"Get out of the way," he snapped. Taking a swipe at Peeves like this was a big mistake.

"Beast in the corridor!" Peeves bellowed, "BEAST IN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

"SHUT UP!"

"BEAST IN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door.

"Please be unlocked," Severus said pleadingly, grabbing the handle furiously.

They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward Peeves's shouts.

"Good," said Lily with a sigh of relief as the door swung open - they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.

"Which way did it go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me. "

"Say 'please. '"

"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go ?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.

"All right - please. "

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.

"That bloody poltergeist," Severus said, letting out a breath he didn't realise he was holding.

"I can't believe he just did that."

"I can," Severus said with a snarl. "He's been messing with me lately."

"Hmmm."

"What?"

"Has he been messing with Remus?" she asked. "I mean, if he knows about you..."

"He would know about him too," Severus said with a nod. "He just seems to have it in for me."

"Any guesses as to why?"

"I have a few guesses," he said with a sneer.

"Do enlighten me, oh wise one."

"Here's one for you," he said. "One of my Housemates put him up to this."

"Why would they...?" She blinked. "Oh."

"Aye," he said, shaking his head. "One of my Housemates knows about me. They don't know about Lupin, but they do know about me."

"And they haven't gone to Ministry because...?"

"We're Slytherins," he said simply. "They probably think they can get something from me."

"Blackmail?"

"Very likely," he said with a curt nod. "I just wish I know _who_."

"This is bad," she said. "Are you sure you don't want to talk to Dumbledore?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Fine," she sighed. "You might not have a choice eventually, however."

"I know."

"Can you tell Professor Steward that I'll not be in class?"

"Sure, but why?"

"Please."

"Ok, Sev," she conceded. "But he'll check in with Pomfrey, you know."

"No problem," he said with a snort. "Do stomach soothers work on stressed induced nausea?"

Lily sighed. "Wish I could be more of a help."

She leaned in and gave him a hug, and Severus caved in, accepting the comfort it offered.

"You're the only thing keeping me from going insane, Lils."

"I love you too, Sev." She gave his hand a quick squeeze before going to grab her books for the last class of the day.


End file.
